Courtship LATEOTW early years
by Avirra
Summary: Ororo and Sabretooth start getting to know each other better.
1. Chapter 1

Ororo rose out of the lake water as the morning sun began to rise. The water was cold, but that never bothered her. Moving up the bank to where her towel was waiting, she sat on it and began the slow process of combing out her wet hair. Eyes fixed on the horizon, her thoughts wandered as she watched the sunrise flush the sky with color.

The move to the wilds last year had certainly gone far smoother than she had dared to hope. Of course, much of the credit for that had to be given to Logan and Rahne. And she had to admit that even Sabretooth had done more than his fair share, albeit grudgingly. While Logan had whole-heartedly accepted the 'new' Sabretooth, Ororo couldn't separate the way he had been in the past from his current actions. For one, she still had problems with believing the changes to be genuine. And even if the changes were real, the price that had been paid was far too high. The deaths of Jean and the Professor still weighed heavy on her spirit.

Shaking her head as if to shake free of the darker thoughts, Ororo turned her mind toward the past year again. By all reasonable indicators, their fledgling colony was doing quite well. Even better, there was every sign that they were moving past surviving to thriving. The first year had been a hard learning curve, but even the least 'wood-wise' among them had learned how to gather food as well as which plants could be used for medicinal purposes. Small gardens were now being cultivated with the most popular plants in hopes that they would be able to grow and preserve enough to help balance the almost all-protein diet of the winter months.

Even better, soon they should be able to start adding milk products back into their diets. Logan and Sabretooth had come across a tiny herd of dairy goats that had escaped their farms and gone feral. Through no small effort on their parts, they managed to capture most of them live. Constant effort from them all now had the goats mostly back to their old domestic habits and any day now, the first kids should be born to increase the small flock. Then they would be able to milk the nannies – maybe the more scientific ones among them would even be able to figure out a way for them to make cheese with some of it.

Laying back and rather enjoying the feel of the still-dewy grass against her bare flesh, her eyes were vaguely focused on a small cloud above her, but her attention wasn't on it. Her thoughts were still on the colony – and the fact that the goats were not the only ones carrying a new generation. It had likely started before, but during the summer months when food was plentiful enough that gathering didn't take all of their energies, pairings began to form – some for just a brief tryst, some moved to stronger ties. Logan and Rahne were the first to make a commitment – which had taken Ororo off guard. Having known Rahne as a young teen, she hadn't really noted that red-haired shape shifter was well past girlhood and definitely a woman. And a woman who had become a talented tracker and hunter in her own right. But one admittedly a bit hampered right now with her expanding waistline. Twins from all indications.

The only real rumbles in the group came from the not infrequent clashes between Sabretooth and Logan. Not that that was a big surprise. They were both alpha males to the extreme – highly opinionated. And in most of the clashes, there really wasn't a right or wrong – just a difference in how things should be done. In fact, it was beginning to look like the best solution was going to be to divide the group into two. Which, oddly enough, Sabretooth and Logan both seemed to feel made perfect sense. And once Logan had sat down with her and explained his views to her yesterday, Ororo had to admit it did hold some advantages.

For one, the two groups would be far enough apart that it would be difficult for an enemy to effectively attack both at once, but the if one did come under attack, the others would be near enough to come help – and in the process, trap the enemy between the two. There were others items, but they all basically boiled down to one fact – two cooperative groups would be better for all in the long run than one large group.

"So. How long are you plannin' on ignorin' me?

His voice, momentarily seeming to come from nowhere, startled her as she cursed herself internally for allowing her guard to drop so thoroughly. Even without seeing him, she knew it was Sabretooth. While many of his and Logan's speech patterns were similar, Logan's voice always had a canine undertone. Sabretooth, on the other hand, was all cat.

Raising herself up on her elbows, she was somewhat surprised again to note that he was just as damp – and unclothed – as she was. To cover, she took the tact of being irritated.

"I had been trying to have some quiet time to myself."

Sabretooth's tone was both unconcerned and unapologetic.

"Must've missed yer 'no trespassing' sign, godgirl. So – you gonna tell me what it is 'bout me that pisses you off?'

Part of her had to acknowledge the validity of the question – it wasn't as if they were in a huge city and only came across each other occasionally. Another part simply didn't want to be bothered.

"I have no intention of discussing that with you."

"Now or ever?"

"Ever."

"Fine."

But instead of leaving, he simply dropped down to the ground near her in a purely feline boneless grace. And continued to watch her.

After a few minutes, the silence got to her and she broke it with a question.

"Exactly what do you think you're doing?"

"You won't tell me what th' deal is, so I figure I'll study you at close range until I can figure it out fer myself."

Scowling, Ororo deliberately laid back down.

"And what have you figured out from your studies so far?"

"Just th' obvious, I suppose. You don't trust that I'm different than how I was when we first met. An' you blame me fer Grey an' Xavier dyin'."

He knew he had regained her full attention without seeing the crystal blue eyes focusing on him sharply. He knew it from the sudden 'tang' that added to her scent.

"While I was involved in their death, I don't really see how you can pin that one on me. Not like I asked either o' them t' be up in my brain. Certainly not like I asked th' Purifiers t' set off those bombs either. Whole bunch o' mind-witches that were nowhere near me died that day an' in th' days that followed."

Ororo didn't acknowledge that externally, but it was a truth. Especially with Jean. It had, after all, been because of her severe reaction to a death that Jean had become a student of the Professor in the first place.

Taking her continued silence as agreement, he continued.

"So – that leaves you not trustin' that I've really changed. Know why Logan trusts it? 'Cause he knew me before. What happened in-between? No idea, Don't even really care. Me an' you gotta lotta things in common, but one thing's different. You seem t' dwell a lot on the 'coulda-beens' and shoulda-beens' in life. Not me. I stick more t' what's here an' now, though admittedly I do keep half an eye toward what's comin'."

That got a rise out of her.

"We have nothing in common."

The heat is her voice was either not noted (unlikely) or ignored (very likely).

"Yer lyin' t' yerself or oblivious then."

"Really? Name one thing we have in common. Not counting mutancy."

"Can give you three without even thinkin' hard. One – we both hadda start takin' care o' ourselves young."

Her eyes were on him again, but she didn't deny it. She had indeed learned at a young age that life could be cruel. Her hard expression remained, but after meeting his eyes, she had no trouble in believing that he had learned that lesson in his youth as well.

"Two – we both have known hunger. Not that 'I hadda skip breakfast an' now I can't wait fer lunch' crap. Real hunger. Where yer guts ache so bad that you can't sleep. That gnawin' hunger that won't leave you alone."

Her silence spoke for her again. Those days were blessedly far behind her, but she still could vividly recall the days when finding a stale heel of bread was like finding a great treasure. She didn't need to study his eyes this time – his description alone told her he'd known those feelings as fact as well.

"Three – we both got the wild at our core. Part that will always be more at home right here. No walls. No fences."

Her silence lasted another long moment before she broke it.

"I concede. Correct on all counts. I suppose the thing that remains for me to ask is what difference that makes."

"What difference?"

The look he gave her was one she would only have expected from someone over a sudden change – say, her hair going purple. But his tone betrayed that what had surprised him was more internal. It suddenly dawned on her that he thought she was being naïve and was going to have to spell out something he felt should have been obvious.

"We'll be splittin' into two groups soon. I want you in my pride."

Ororo still wouldn't consider herself naïve, but she was being to wonder if she was being oblivious to something. His simple statement was not expected and she was finding herself contending with a wide mix of emotions. Curiosity, intrigue, suspicion – and some amusement as well. The latter was due to noting that Sabretooth had adopted Hank's method of referring to the two future groups – Logan's pack and Victor's pride. For reasons she had yet to fathom, Hank was among the very few that could get by with calling him by his first name without a growl – or at least a dirty look.

"Why me?"

Now she found herself on the receiving end of a narrowed gaze – he was apparently trying to figure out if her question was serious or if she was messing with him. It seemed a long time before his expression shifted to a frown.

"Yer th' one I want guardin' my cubs."

It took two beats for the full implications of that sentence to dawn on her. To guard cubs, there must be cubs – and one thing he and Logan had in common….. no, he couldn't be serious. But when she slowly studied him – his expression and his body language – she knew he was perfectly serious.


	2. Chapter 2

**Part II**

Seeming puzzled by her lack of response, Sabretooth continued.

"You know I can provide an' protect already."

It took her another minute, but Ororo finally found her voice.

"That's not the issue."

"What is then?"

"What about love?"

That earned her a look like she had suddenly shifted to another language.

"Love? Never felt it that I know. Don't even know that I believe it exists. Point here is – I respect yer talents an' yer nerve. I believe you'd kill or at least severely maim anyone or anything that threatened a cub of yours. Same as I would. World's a rougher place than it used t' be, Storm. If cubs are going to make it, they're gonna need strong, fierce protectors until they get big enough t' take care o' themselves. Don't see where love would be that important."

"It is important to me."

"Why?"

His question came across not as a demand – which was more what she was expecting, Nor did it sound like a petulant comeback. She had apparently made a statement that he honestly didn't understand and was looking for clarification on. Clarification that she was finding difficult to provide.

Those intense eye of his were studying her again. Finally he made a soft noise. Might have been a sigh, might have been exasperation or it might have been him releasing a held breath.

"Alright – I take it from th' extended silence that even if you don't know what it is yerself, you've pretty well figured out it ain't likely t' occur between you an' me. So… not like there's a trainload o' us here that are breedin' age. Who here do you figure you could have cubs by an' mix in this love thing?"

"_I suppose this is what I deserve for complaining once that men do not simply say what it is that is on their minds." _She didn't voice that thought, but she did have to grant that she couldn't accuse Sabretooth of beating around the bush. His words had the intended effect though as Ororo frowned slightly and reviewed the other members of the colony. The vast majority could be discounted with barely a thought – too young, too old or already involved. The ones that were still mourning lost loves were also eliminated. Those left? Some she barely knew beyond their names.

Her extended silence seem to increase his confusion, so he decided to make an observation. Though on further thought, he decided to keep the fact that her scent said she was ready for breeding to himself and made a different comment instead.

"You've been thinkin' about cubs. I've seen you lookin' at Rahne. 'Specially when those pups o' hers are kickin' out."

A smile formed. She couldn't help but be amused again – pups for Logan, cubs for Creed. Which drew out the unsought memory that she herself had been nicknamed Lioness on more than one occasion. And now that he had lapsed into silence himself, she moved her eyes back over to him.

Sabretooth wasn't looking back at her. He didn't appear to be looking at anything, really. She guessed he was deep in thought and she took the opportunity to study him a bit closer.

Muscular, but not overly so the way so-called body builders used to be. Large in body, but still retaining a certain sleekness - like a lion. She was just thinking that she had never seen him so still for so long when she noticed his eyes were returning to focus on her.

"What if you could have it both ways?"

"Pardon?"

"Have cubs by me. I won't lay claim t' you. Just them. Then if this love thing you want happens, you can go with him or her once th' cubs are all weaned."

"Why would I wait?"

While she couldn't conceive that she would ever be able to leave a child of her own behind, she was interested in how he would react.

"Why wouldn't you? If this love stuff means anything at all, wouldn't they wait a few weeks for you? If not, well… mebbe onna th' other gals will be nursin' an' be willin' t' finish out their sucklin' time."

To give herself time to both catch her breath and think, she laughed softly.

"This is hardly a conversation I could have imagined us having even just yesterday."

He gave her a wry smile at that.

"Just goes t' show that neither o' us are clairvoyant. Bet you wouldn't o' thought two years back that we could be havin' a quiet talk with us both buck-ass naked either. An' what was that look for? I'm not allowed t' use words with over two syllables or somethin'?"

"No, no… it just… how much of all this is an act?"

As she watched, he sat up a bit straighter and something she couldn't quite put her finger on shifted in his expression. Whatever it was, he looked more man and less cat. When he spoke, his voice was deeper – steadier.

"That would all depend on your definition of 'act'. In the wild, is a chameleon actually acting like a leaf or just taking advantage of his natural talent at blending in? Not bragging, just fact to say that I've worked on every continent on this planet at one time or another. I've traveled by zeppelin, plane, cattle boat, luxury liner, train, car, stagecoach and probably most other ways that you can get from one place to another. And I did all of that without causing wide-spread suspicion or panic. Unless, of course, creating hysteria was part of a job I was working on at the time. I am who I am, Storm. Speaking different languages and using different speech patterns don't alter that any more than me changing my coat or dyeing my hair would."

It only took a second for him to drop back into what she had considered to be his customary slouch and the grin he gave her was half-leer.

"Now – I'll leave it fer you t' decide if that was th' real me or if this is. 'Course, might not be either."

Obviously, she had a great deal of re-thinking to do where he was concerned. He was a far more complicated creature than she had ever given him credit for. She also decided that she would need to locate Logan very soon for another chat. Sabretooth was watching her still and she knew he was waiting for some sort of answer.

"I need some time to think – I couldn't possibly give you any sort of answer right now."

"Fine. I can wait until tomorrow."

And before she could protest that that hadn't been what she meant, he was gone. How a man his size could move so quickly and quietly was yet another mystery.

Getting to her own feet, Ororo felt that a flight would aid her in clearing her head. As the warm air swirled around her, she nodded to herself. Flight first, then track down Logan.


	3. Chapter 3

**Part III**

Logan knew it was likely to be one of those days when Storm touched down near him. For one, her scent didn't have that mid-summer smell that he associated with her usual placid self. The other give-away was the fact that she was nude.

"Mornin', 'Ro. Can I offer you some breakfast? Some water? Mebbe a blanket? 'Cause, no offense, but Rahne's still basically a Catholic school gal at heart an' if she walks out an' sees you in yer birthday suit, she's likely t' drop th' pups today."

Flushing a bit, she accepted the offered blanket. Her embarassment wasn't from modesty but from having become so distracted that she'd forgotten all about her state of undress. Causing Rahne any discomfort was the last thing she wanted to do. As she wrapped and tucked, Logan tended to a small fire underneath his morning catch of fish.

"Had good luck at th' stream today, so figured I'd dry some o' th' catch for later. So, what brings you here so flustered? That's not like you, 'Ro."

"Sabretooth."

She smoothed the blanket as she settled down on a stump near the fire. At Logan's questioning look, she continued.

"He wants us to have children."

Logan's look went from questioning to slightly irritated and confused.

"Huh? What is he celebratin'? Vic knows me and Rahne are expectin' any day now."

Ororo gave him a slightly blank look until it dawned on her that she had phrased it badly.

"No, no - of course he knows that. Sabretooth wants to have children. By me."

"Ah."

Logan really wasn't sure what else to say at first. She didn't sound pissed about it, so odds were that Vic hadn't tried to jump her. Yet.

"Well... what are yer feelin's on that topic?"

The blanket he'd given her to wrap up in was pretty plain, but you wouldn't have known from the attention she was currently paying to it. He was being to wonder if he needed to switch topics when she finally answered.

"Far less sure than I would have imagined my feelings would have been. Logan, we have been friends for a long time now. Would you do me a favor?"

"Well - I'd surely be willing to consider doin' you a favor. You aren't gonna ask me t' commit without tellin' me what favor you want, are you?"

That brought a smile to her face that was good to see.

"No, I wouldn't do that to you. What I'd like is for you to talk to me about him. Please?"

Despite his feelings for Ororo, Logan hesitated. Vic was a lot like him - he had a high regard for his privacy. Then again, if she was serious about Vic wanting her to mate with him (and why the hell would she lie about a thing like that?), then he had to expect that she'd want details.

"Okay... but let me get somethin' t' drink first. Not what you'd call a short story."

He came back with a pair of wineskins, offering one to her before sitting down. He squirted a short stream into his mouth before speaking again.

"What was it you wanted me to tell you about?"

She lifted the skin and took a short squirt as well. Wiping her mouth off with the back of her hand, she considered the words Sabretooth spoke earlier.

"He said that you knew him before. Would you tell me about that?"

"Before? Oh - before he went a bit nuts, you mean. Alright, I guess so."

"To start with, I guess you should know that Vic's always had a rough edge. Guess most o' that goes back t' th' fact that he had a lot roughter homelife than me. Less said on that, th' better."

Logan paused - then editted out a small chunk of their lives. Some things he wasn't ready to share.

During his silence, Ororo looked sympathetically at her old friend. There was always some pain deep behind his eyes, but he was a fiercely private man. She would listen to what he could share freely and resist the temptation to ask for more.

His expresssion smoothed though and his eyes fixed on the coals of the fire as if he could see something in them.

"You wouldn't have known me back then. I was scawny - I guess Runt really was a pretty appropriate nickname fer how I looked. I was damn near useless - hell, I was probably worse than useless. Didn't know how t' track or hunt. Never had even made toast fer myself. Always makes me believe that Vic's gotta stronger feel for family than I do. 'Cause if our situations had been reversed? I don't know that I wouldn't have considered him an anchor an' resented th' hell outta him. If he ever felt that way, he didn't show it."

"When we found ourselves on our own, wasn't good warm weather. Snow was already on th' ground an' we didn't have anything but th' clothes on our backs an' mine weren't even good outdoor wear. He found us places t' hole up an' if he could find enough dry stuff, he'd build us a fire, put me in front o' it an' put himself at my back instead o' gettin' closer t' th' warmth himself. If he couldn't build a fire, he'd put his back t' th' openin' an' block what wind he could. Huntin' was pretty poor an' even though he had a knack for it, he didn't have a lotta experience. Lookin' back, I'm surprised he was able t' keep goin'. He used a lotta energy with very little return. An' if he thought there was only enough food fer one, he made me take it. I learned not t' argue. Once he determined somethin' like that, he wouldn't take a bite no matter what I said."

A faint smile formed on his face.

"Not that I'm makin' a case for sainthood for him, mind you. Vic's stubborn as th' very devil himself an' it'd be easier t' push a boulder uphill than change his mind once he has it made up. His temper ain't th' world's longest an' I gotta admit that once I got stronger an' more stubborn myself, he cuffed me on more'n one occassion. Not that I wasn't usually askin' for it. When I'd get on his last nerve, I'd find myself landin' in th' water or bushes... or sometimes he'd just sit on me until I settled down."

Then it was like a cloud passed over his face.

"Before much longer, we'd figured that there was somethin' really different about us. Near th' end o' winter, I came across a grizzly - fresh outta hibernation an' in a bad mood. He attacked me, but Vic had heard him bellow an' jumped on that furry mountain t' get him away from me. Th' one swat th' bear had tagged me with had gone clear down t' my ribs an' blood was everywhere. I thought Vic an' me had both bought it, but before I could process what all had happened, th' bear was dead an' Vic didn't look far behind him. He wasn't much more than a wheezin' clump o' loosely held together hamburger. I won't lie - I was panicing but then a pullin' feel at my chest caught my attention. I ended up starin' as the flesh pulled back together on me. Once I realized I was mending, I knelt down next t' Vic an' saw his body was tryin' t' do th' same, but it was harder because he had so many more wounds. Don't know how long I stayed by him, helpin' it along by pinchin' his skin together so that it could knit faster."

"We both lived, but our clothes were past repair. Not sure where he found new clothes for us, but I suspect someone was missing a few things from their home. Wasn't like we had money an' when yer cold enough an' hungry enough, you don't ask too many questions."

"Two guys that can heal real well? Well, when we got bigger, becoming professional soldiers seemed as good a way as any t' earn a livin'. Vic called it takin' advantage o' what nature gave us. At first, we were about th' same with it. It was a job an' one we could do pretty well. But it started havin' an effect on Vic. His temper got shorter. His reactions got more violent. Started fights if there wasn't one available already. Lookin' back, I should have done somethin'. We could've done other things, but I just went along. Let things get t' a boilin' point."

Reaching for a few small pieces of wood, he fed them into the fire.

"There's likely a lot o' pain that coulda been avoided if I'd just taken care o' him half as well as he'd taken care o' me. I told him that once an' he swatted me one. S'far as he's concerned, he's th' elder so he was th' one that was responsible fer me, not th' other way around. When we were kids, yeh... but I was plenty old then t' have paid him back some. Mebbe it wouldn't have changed anything, but mebbe I could've kept him away from th' edge. Never know now."

Logan went quiet again as he adjusted some of the drying fish, then his eyes went back down to the fire.

"Me an' you had a rough start, but we get along real well an' have for years, 'Ro. I guess what I want t' say is this - if there's anything in me that you can like or admire, Vic's gotta be given part o' th' credit fer me comin' out th' way I am. He tended me, taught me. Might not always been right, but I have no doubts that he did th' best by me that he knew how an' treated me a helluva lot better than his own father treated him. As fer Vic, th' things in him you might not care for, put part o' th' blame for them on me."

Ororo considered his words, then reached out a hand to lay it on his arm.

"Are you telling me that I should...?"

Logan let out a literal bark of laughter at that, then grinned again and patted her hand.

"Not saying any such thing. You're a grown gal - only one that knows if you're ready to have kids is you."

"Oh? He seemed to imply that he knew that I wanted them."

"Well yes.... physically."

A sort of sheepish smile formed on his face as he gave a shrug - she found it to be an absurd look on a man like him.

"It's your scent, 'Ro. Sorry. But both o' us know that ain't th' same as bein' mentally ready."

Every now and then, she forgot just how acute their noses were and just how much information could be relayed by scent alone. As she was wondering if it might be possible to control one's scent, Logan cleared his throat to draw her attention back.

"Whatever you do or don't do? Do me a big favor, 'Ro. Take this as a compliment. He might not o' made it sound like one, but he's not goin' t' be talkin' o' kids with th' intention o' insultin' you."

"I won't take it as an insult. I promise. Any other advice?"

"Yeh. Patience isn't a strong quality in our family. Take him up on it or turn him down, but don't leave him hangin'."

"Sound advice. Thank you. I will return your blanket later. I think.... I have a lot to think on."

He didn't rise as the winds lifted her back into the skies, just watched until she was lost to sight. Well, if nothing else, he definately had an answer for Rahne when she asked what was new today.


	4. Chapter 4

**Part IV**

After Ororo had flown off, Logan found himself pacing. He finally decided that there was little to no chance that Ororo would be talking to Vic in the near future, so he ducked into his den. Rahne was laughing at her expanding stomach and the peculiar motions it was making..

"Would y' look at them? I think they're having a wrestling match. Or perhaps a race."

Then she caught sight of Logan's face and held a hand out to him.

"I know that expression. Help me out into the sunshine, then go take care of what you need to. No fussing now. I'm fine and if these two ruffians decide to make an appearance, you'll hear the howl."

"I'd better."

He gently helped her to her feet and out into the fresh air, settling her down where she could keep an eye on the fish. Then after a kiss, he headed off - though not before making a detour to ask Hank to keep an eye on Rahne. After that, he felt easier about tracking down Vic.

Finding Vic near the wood they were aging wasn't too big of a surprise. He enjoyed working with wood. It was what Vic was working on that surprised him.

"Is that a... cradle?"

Vic gave him a smirk.

"Two points, Jimmy. Very good. Nice t' know that watchin' Rahne gettin' th' size of a Volkswagen hasn't totally thrown off yer powers o' observation."

Moving closer, running a hand over the smooth wood before swatting Vic on the shoulder.

"Smart-ass. She ain't that damn big. Nice work, but aren't you jumpin' th' gun a bit?"

"Nope... wait.... you been talkin' with Storm?"

"Yep. She came t' see me. Com'on, Vic. Surely you were expectin' her to."

Shrugging as he continued to use his claws to smooth the wood on the inside of the cradle.

"I guess. Mebbe not so quick though. Ain't sure if that's a good sign or a bad one."

"So - what's with th' cradle then?"

That got a snort.

"Don't be more o' an idiot than you gotta be, Jimmy. This is fer yer pups. Good solid wood. Got it t' where you can hang it from a strong branch or rock it on the ground."

Logan took a longer look at the cradle, then ran a hand across it again - more appreciatively this time.

"Rahne'll like that. Really nice work."

"Well, those pups'll be my blood kin too. Be nice fer you - you won't be th' shortest one in the family fer once. At least until they reach two years old."

"Said it before - I'll say it again. Smart-ass."

Vic grinned, then sat back away from his work.

"So.... what'd Storm wanna talk about?"

"You know exactly what she wanted t' talk about. She wanted t' talk about you."

"Okay, okay - that was a dumb question. What did..."

Vic's head jerked up in unison with Logan's. The howl hadn't even faded before Logan was off and running as fast as Vic had ever seen him run. Snickering to himself, he gave the cradle once last examination before picking it up and heading off in the same direction Logan went.

"Guess I got this finished just in time."

By the time he had made his way back, the rest of the colony was gathered around in a loose group - some pacing, some sitting, some keeping themselves busy with cooking. In fact, the only one he didn't see was Storm. He was just about to ask Drake if she was in with Rahne when he heard the wails of a newborn. Grinning, he settled down to wait. It was about ten more minutes before a second cry broke the air and about five more after that before Logan came outside looking fit to bust.

"Those that were bettin' twins can collect. Vic? Com'on over an' bring that cradle with you."

Sniffing the air as he got up to follow Logan inside, there was a confusing hodge-podge of scents. Looking in, Rahne looked tired, but proud as she held one of her children. Hank was holding the other one.

"One boy - one girl. Yer their uncle, Vic. Got any thoughts on names?"

That got Vic looking over to Rahne, then down to the bundle in her arms. He sat the cradle down by the entrance, then moving closer, he took a better look and a good sniff of the baby girl. After a minute, he moved over to Hank and did the same for the boy.

"Matter o' fact, I do. I kinda like th' names Charles an' Jean."

The silence was broken when Hank cleared his throat.

"My input may not be sought on this subject, but I also have a great deal of fondness for those names."

Logan moved over to lay a hand on Rahne's shoulder. She kissed the top of the baby's head - wisps of hair that had already dried had a reddish tinge.

"She does look verra much like a Jean, m'love."

"Think you've already got this uncle stuff down. Charles and Jean it is then."


	5. Chapter 5

**Part V**

Ororo was confused to find no sign of anyone when she flew back near dusk. It was when she decided she'd better ask Logan what was going on that she found everyone. The atmosphere was decidedly festive with Hank, Bobby, Reed and Logan doing a credible barbershop quartet off to one side.

There was only one reason she could think of for the celebration – one that was borne out as Kitty spotted her and ran over.

"Oh, Ororo! Wait until you see them! They're beautiful – Logan! Logan!"

Turning his head as Kitty's shout, Logan left the others to continue on as a trio and motioned Ororo over.

"Com'on, com'on. I got strict orders from m'lady t' take you to her soon as I saw you."

He led her over to the door, but stayed at the entrance as Ororo went on inside. Rahne was laying on her side near the edge of the bed, one hand gently rocking the cradle on the floor. Her bright eyes moved from them to Ororo and back again. It was like she couldn't look at them enough. Ororo smiled warmly at the sight of the new mother as she moved to kneel by the cradle for a better look at the twins.

"They are beautiful, Rahne."

Rahne blushed as she halted the rocking for Ororo.

"Aye. Sabretooth said that even though they currently have their father's height, they at least have their mum's looks."

Ororo couldn't help laughing at that as her fingers gingerly reached out to touch the wispy locks on the stirring pair. Logan spoke up behind her.

"Good a time as any fer introductions, I guess. One on th' left is Charles – one on th' right is Jean. If you mix up which is which, check th' diaper."

Her vision went a bit misty. Part of her time away had been spent remembering their dead. Jean and the Professor had been very prominent in those memories. Once she could trust her voice again, she spoke softly.

"I don't know that you could have picked better names."

A soft laugh from Rahne drew her attention.

"Y'may nay believe it, but Sabretooth was the one that named them - with our blessings."

"You an' him are related with blood now, Rahne. You can call him by his name, y'know."

Logan's tone was amused, but Rahne was a bit embarrassed.

"Some things are easier learned than unlearned. But I'll try to remember. Would you be so kind as to pass Charles up to me? Time to nurse him again."

Ororo carefully lifted out the boy and began to rock Jean. She had to agree with Rahne. Unlearning was indeed far harder.

Watching her, Logan seemed to sense which way her thoughts were going, but chose not to comment on them. Instead, he reached down a hand to brush one finger against his daughter's cheek.

"Go on an' pick her up, 'Ro."

He didn't have to tell her twice. Reaching down, she scooped up the infant who was starting to make soft smacking noises. The bottom of the cradle was lined with soft rabbit fur.

"Vic made th' cradle there. Except fer that height crack, he's doin' pretty good at this Uncle business."

"Where is he? I would've expected him to be nearby."

"Well, Rahne's got a taste fer some venison an' Vic told me t' stick here. Said he need a good run any way an' he'd take care o' two things at once that way."

It was taking Rahne a bit of fidgeting to get both herself and Charles in the right position.

"Doctor McCoy says t'will get easier the more I do it. I hope he's right."

Reaching over to adjust her pillow for her, Logan ran a hand through her hair as she settled a second time.

"Yer doin' fine, Rahne. Just try t' relax an' don't over think it. By th' time th' next baby come around, you'll be th' old hand givin' out advice t' th' other new moms."

Logan turned his head toward the doorway then. Ororo was a little puzzled by that until Sabretooth appeared there just seconds later. He took a long look at her holding Jean, then motioned to Logan.

"Com'on out an' give me a hand. Got a nice buck."

Most of the buck's meat ended up being roasted for a late evening meal for the rest of the colony. Rahne preferred hers on the rare side and ate it in private after the twins had both nursed and dozed off again. Bones were being gathered to boil for broth when Ororo went looking for Sabretooth.

He was looking over the skin that he had just stretched to dry, but he turned when he smelled her coming closer. She looked like she was trying to figure out something to say, so he remained silent to allow her time to get her thoughts in line.

Finally, she took a deep breath and began.

"Sabretooth. I have been doing a great deal of thinking since our talk. And I find that I simply cannot make any sort of decision quickly. I need…. space. If you can give me that for a couple of months, then I think I will be able to give you an answer."

She couldn't see him as well in the shadows, but she knew his eyes were on her. The silence seemed to stretch for a long time before he spoke.

"So… basically, you want me t' go away an' leave you be fer two months so you can think everything over without any pressure?"

"Exactly."

Logan's words about him not being particularly patient ran through her mind as she waited through another long silence. Then he said a single word.

"Done."

A rustling sound that could just as easily have been a breeze was her only sign that he had left.

Late the next morning, she heard Logan yelling – alternating between calling for Vic and asking if anyone had seen him. A slightly cold feeling came over her as she recalled the way Sabretooth had phrased the first part of his question: '_you want me to go away'_. And she had agreed.

Moving to head off Logan, she told him of their conversation – and her suspicions. He swore and took off in a run to Sabretooth's den. A shiver ran through more than one member of the colony at the sound of the anguished howl that shattered the air. Ororo didn't have to guess what that meant.

Sabretooth was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

**Part VI**

The time was passing slowly for the colony. The first month eventually passed. All plans at splitting were put on hold – it almost seemed as if life had been put on hold. Logan was gone most of the time hunting and fishing – they were down to one main hunter instead of the three they had been enjoying.

This also meant Logan was coming into camp just long enough to dump off kills and leaving the tasks of skinning, gutting, butchering and other such tasks to the rest of the group. After a long day of gutting, scaling and filleting fish for drying, Bobby flopped down by the fire.

"You know, I never really realized just how many nasty jobs Sabes and Logan do in an average week of getting enough food for all of us. It takes a lot to feed fifty or so folks three meals a day."

Hank tsked at Bobby.

"You merely haven't been paying attention. And you've done your share of unpleasant tasks before, Robert."

Kitty walked by, offering Hank a mug as she gave Bobby a teasing glance.

"Sure he has. We all know it when he does them."

Bobby looked back at Kitty, totally unchastised.

"Only good thing about a gross job is complaining about it."

Hank took the offered mug and nodded.

"Well said, Robert. We will be sure to direct the lion's share of said tasks to you in the future to maximize your enjoyment."

Ororo stayed in the shadows, listening to the laughter. She knew they wouldn't feel free to talk if they knew she was near. While none of them knew any details about why Sabretooth was gone (as Logan had said '_none of their damn business'_), they all figured out from her own reactions that she had something to do with it. And apparently had made agreement among themselves never to bring him up when she was around.

She felt rather guilty about the whole thing. Logan was working himself to near the point of exhaustion. As Bobby had pointed out, it took a lot of food to feed their group and this time of year, almost all of that food was protein. Some berries were starting to be found, but they were still about a month away from a good harvest of those. Most wild foods wouldn't become abundant until mid-summer and fall. Logan was adamant that Rahne not rejoin the hunting until the twins were a bit larger. With their current feeding schedule, Rahne was lucky to get in a solid hour of sleep at a time.

Making Ororo feel even worse was the fact that his absense wasn't helping her to sort out her feelings at all. So she had inadvertantly put pressure on the whole group for nothing. One thing she had in common with Bobby - she hadn't realized the number of things Sabretooth did without calling attention to them. But it was very obvious when he wasn't there to do them.

She almost jumped out of her skin when Logan spoke up behind her. She was really going to have to stop getting lost in her thoughts.

"No reason for you t' be hangin' back here in th' shadows, 'Ro."

"I know, but..... I should have listened more carefully when I was talking to Sabretooth. I was so worried about trying to get him to understand what I meant that I totally missed what he meant."

Reaching up, Logan smoothed back a strand of her hair.

"Might help you some if you start thinkin' o' him by a name instead o' a codeword, y'know. He was born Victor Logan. Sure, he can be a killin' machine, but so can I. So can most o' th' folks here. More o' us have blood on our hands than don't, but that's not all there is t' any o' us."

Head lifting, Logan tested the air briefly before lowering it with a sigh.

"I'm worried 'bout him, 'Ro."

For a moment, Ororo didn't think he was serious, but his body language showed tension along with his fatigue. He saw the look she gave him.

"I honestly am, 'Ro. We really never have been able to get a good recon o' th' areas surroundin' our territory. Vic an' me were goin' t' take a couple o' weeks mid-summer t' scout out around. It's always better t' face th' unknown with backup."

He made himself stop voicing his concerns. He didn't really blame Ororo, but he had to admit feeling really exasperated. He had practically begged her not to leave his brother hanging. What was done was done now though. Wasn't any point making her feel worse than she was making herself feel.

By the time the second month was half done, the rest of the colony was picking up on Logan's nerves, but not really concerned. Sabretooth and Logan were the definition of bad-asses. Survival was second nature to them, after all.

So none of them were sincerely worried. At least not until the two months had finally passed and there was still no sign of Sabretooth.


	7. Chapter 7

**Part VII**

For his part, the passage of time was the least of Sabretooth's concerns. He had had his sight taken from him near the start, but wasn't like there was much to see anyway. Definately nothing he could have judged time by. Maybe he'd been here for days or weeks. Since he'd started playing dead, felt like years.

At least the time for playing dead was finally over. While he didn't know much about the life span of spiders - especially not of a man-sized spider - he did know that the one that he'd been keeping company with unwillingly had reached the end of its. His nose could tell that much for him.

His nose had also noted something considerable closer and, by process of elimination, he figured it was bound to be an egg sac. One that he was hoping would be able to provide him with some desperately needed protein.

Working his way free of the clinging webbing was far from easy, but he was finally able to lay his hands on the egg sac. As hoped, large spider, large egg sac. Well, relatively large - about the size of a watermelon. Ripping it open carefully, he began shoveling the contents into his mouth. Nearly pure protein. As he ate, he noted that the timing was close. The eggs hadn't been far from hatching. If he had had to wait much longer for the adult to die, they would have hatched and swarmed him.

He felt a little sick after eating all of the sac. How long had it been since he'd eaten? No matter now. He needed to finish getting free of the web, find water, then find his way back to the group. After some consideration, he left the webbing alone that was around the top of his head. He knew his eyes were in a bad way and figure the silk made as good a bandage as anything else would. His clothing wasn't fitting well, probably torn up pretty badly. Eh - again, not worth worrying about.

Making his way out, he lifted his face to the falling rain. It felt good and he was tempted just to stand there and enjoy it for awhile, but no. He had to get back.

Spring was drawing to a close when Kitty and Bobby were hunting together for mushrooms in the early morning dews. A rustling noise nearby drew their attention, but they weren't alarmed. At least not until they got a look at the skeletally thin figure that had some sort of nasty cloth covering the upper part of his head. Kitty gave an involuntary gasp and the figure stopped - and sniffed the air.

Bobby's eyes grew wide as it suddenly hit him.

"Oh my god........ Kitty, that's Sabes."

Running over to Sabaretooth, they quickly noticed his eyes were covered, but considering he hadn't removed the,,, whatever it was himself, they left it alone. Bobby stayed with him while Kitty ran back to get Hank. For Sabretooth's part, now that he had found the colony, he could rest. Under Bobby's worried gaze, he lowered himself to the ground, curled up and went to sleep. Bobby started pacing and sincerely hoped Kitty would return with Hank before Logan caught Sabes' scent and came looking. Then he saw the sight he'd been looking for - blue fur coming fast.

"Oh my stars and garters....."

Hank knew Kitty wasn't prone to overstatement, but he had hoped she had been exaggerating a little to hurry him along. But if anything, she'd understated Victor's condition. Quickly checking the vital signs, Hank judged that moving him wouldn't cause any additional damage. Picking him up, Hank winced a bit at just how much weight Victor had lost.

"I'm not going to jostle him more than necessary. Kitty, find Logan. Bobby? Make sure a clean bed is ready and tell whoever is handy to start heating some water. He's filthy. He's also starved... get someone to start some food as well."

As he walked, Hank's frown got deeper. Even if Victor hadn't eaten much while he'd been gone, he shouldn't look this way. The wasted look was something he associated more with long-term depravation. Then he took a closer look at the material clinging her and there to Victor's clothes. Webbing?

Despite his urge to hurry, Hank stopped and lowered Victor back to the ground, carefully undoing and moving his clothing to get a better look. The entire torso was discolored and numerous puncture marks in various stages of healing were still evident everywhere. No wonder he looked so wasted – something had been feeding on him. And if he wasn't mistaken from the tones of some of the discoloration, Victor had been injected with poison as well.

"McCoy?"

The voice was raspy. Hank noted that among many other things, Victor was dehydrated. But he made his voice upbeat as he quickly redressed his patient.

"One hundred percent correct, Victor. Let me get you back up and we'll go get you cleaned up a bit. Might I assume the other party involved looks worse than you do?"

"Totally dead? Yeh, she is that."

"Female?"

"Never heard o' a guy anything that laid eggs, so assumin' female."

Hank didn't question any more. There would be plenty of time for that later. Hefting Victor back up, he started on his way again.

"I'd prefer not t' get gawked at."

"I will do my humble best to fend off your admirers, but honestly – groupies are so hard to contain."

A snort was the only response back to that before his severely overtaxed healing factor nudged him back into sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**Part VIII  
****  
**Unfortunately for Sabretooth's preferences, Kitty's earlier frantic entrance as she looked for Hank followed by Bobby's energetic diving into preparation for Hank's return pretty well guaranteed that everyone already knew that he was not only back, but in far from good condition. Ororo was among the others watching and waiting for Hank's entrance – none were really prepared for it.

"Shoo – far too busy to tarry, dear friends."

He moved past them to where Bobby was standing and most of them took the hint, scattering to go back to their work in some cases. Most divided up into smaller groups to speculate on what had happened. One thing most agreed on was the need to stay close to the colony until whatever had done this was known to not be a threat any more.

Ororo stayed near. but she refrained from going any closer for now. Bobby stood ready to assist, but Hank requested him to guard the door instead.

"Logan and only Logan passes the portal. Victor stated his desire not to be a sideshow and I plan to honor that as much as I can now that's he's here."

Once Bobby had taken his position, Hank began removing what remained of Sabretooth's clothing. To his eye, nothing was salvageable and he dumped everything unceremoniously into a pile to be burned. Removing what remained of the webbing attached to him proved more problematic. While Sabretooth could be considered a bit hairy, he was practically bald in comparison with Hank. Which meant the problem was two-fold: getting it unstuck from Sabretooth without getting it stuck to his own blue fur. As to the glob of webbing at the head, he decided to start from the bottom up and leave that for last.

He was in the process of washing the dried blood and other less identifiable fluids from Sabretooth's torso when Logan arrived. From the heavy breathing, Hank had to guess that Kitty had been left somewhere far behind him.

Hank moved to the side – he needed to rinse out his cloth any way.

For his part, Logan was actually fairly grateful that he hadn't had enough breath to blurt out anything when he came in. By the time he caught enough air, nothing he'd been going to say seemed important enough to actually voice. Yes, Vic looked like hell, but little doubt he and Hank were already aware of that. Important things – he was back and he was alive. Everything else, like the details of what happened, would come in time. Moving over, he reached out a hand for the cloth Hank had just finished re-soaping.

Hank passed it over to him. Logan taking over that would leave him free to start dealing with the more intricate task of starting to clean out the puncture wounds. Having many years of association with them both to call on, he knew that the more pressure he could take off of the healing factor, the more it would be able to turn its' focus on the things he couldn't deal with as well. Like the remnants of poison.

Gathering the needed tools, Hank soon became engrossed in his task to the point that he didn't notice when Victor woke again, but he began to hear soft sounds and realized that Logan and Victor were talking very quietly. Despite what others might say, Hank did know the value of occasionally remaining silent and judged that this was one such time. He re-focused on the wounds and let the brothers continue uninterrupted.

"How big?"

"Just a rough estimate, Jimmy, but somewhere 'tween you an' me. I didn't get t' get much o' a look at th' damn thing. Think you can work this goop off my head?"

"Crap's worse than warm taffy, but I'll see what I can do. While I work with this, think you can fill me in on what all happened?"

"I'll give her a go. Lessee.... I guess I was 'bout four days north o' here. New area - odd scents. I was going along at a steady pace, but not too fast. I was tryin' t' get a feel for what all was an' wasn't in th' area. Came t' one area with a thick tree cover an' as I was passin' through, I had a tug at my hair. Nothin' major. Just like a strand o' hair had caught on a passin' twig, y'know? Didn't give it a second thought, just took my left hand up t' brush it away, then I felt somethin' touch against my wrist. Bang - my wrist was stuck. I said a few choice words an' tried t' yank free. No luck, so I shifted around t' try an' get a better look at what I was stuck on. Just then, heard a noise above an' look up t' this damn big spider right over me. An' while I'm lookin' up at it, thing spits some kind o' caustic crap into my face. Blinded me an' th' stink o' it wrecked me bein' able t' smell what was goin' on. Next thing I know, I feel a bite an' that's the last I knew for.... well, not a bit sure how long I was out o' it."

"When I came to again, I knew it had moved me 'cause I couldn't feel air movin' around me freely any more. I was stuck good too. When I tried t' test if I could work free or not, thing was on top o' me again. That got t' be a pattern. Every time I woke, I felt more drained. How long th' times were 'tween wakin'? No way t' judge. Then th' spider's scent changed some. Didn't smell as healthy. Gave me some hope that mebbe I could outlast th' thing, so I decided that I'd try playin' dead. Keepin' myself still was near 'bout th' hardest thing I've ever done, but it finally croaked."

"Think there are more like it?"

"Yeh, I think so. Bound t' be. Thing had laid eggs an' those eggs were near hatchin'. Must've been a male at some point. Odds are against there only bein' two. I'd guess odds would also be against that havin' been the first an' only egg sac. We're gonna half t' do some huntin', Jimmy. Might want t' have Drake with us as well."

"Agreed. Time for that after you get yer strength back. Brace yerself, think I can pry this old web stuff off now. Likely t' give yer hair a bad yank though."

"If you pulling my hair is the worst thing I'll go through today, I'll count it lucky. Get on with it."

The noise Logan made once the main part of the glob came free was more of a hiss.


	9. Chapter 9

**Part IX  
****  
**At Logan's reaction, Vic let out a snort.

"I take it that spider didn't do much t' improve my rugged good looks?"

Logan gave him a poke to one of his few unbruised areas in response.

"Since you never had any good looks t' start with, no worries on that account."

The hiss had already drawn Hank's attention so he left the puncture wounds alone for the moment to come take a look at Victor's face. It wasn't a pretty sight. From midnose to hairline, the scarring was about as bad as he'd seen. The worst part was that both eyelids and eyes were missing altogether and he could see no signs of any regeneration having begun.

"Victor...."

"I wouldn't waste a lotta worry on that yet, McCoy. Body has its own priorities. Since I could live pretty well without it, vision's likely pretty far down th' list."

"I thought as much, but... trickier question to you both. Is there a time limit?"

The silence and the puzzled expression from both men showed a major failure to communicate. Sighing, Hank tried again.

"Alright. Generally speaking, most wounds that I've had to witness the two of you suffer begin to heal almost immediately with the end result that even most major injuries are little more than a memory in 24 hours - often far less. However, in this case, healing has yet to have an opportunity to work and this after around three months have come and gone. Do you know if there comes a point where your body would not be able to go back and pick up the pieces?"

The longer, deeper silence made him doubt they knew the answer to that one themselves. Then Victor spoke out.

"Possibly. I got th' odd scar here an' there. Don't suppose I'd have those if th' healin' factor bothered with everything. So - what yer sayin' is that this might be permanent."

Hank fidgeted just a bit as he noticed Logan staring at him very hard. He wasn't about to lie to Victor though. He deserved to know. Plus, he was very adept at spotting out lies.

"Yes. There is that possibility."

Victor took his right hand and touched the scarring, then he gave a shrug.

"Eh - I'll adjust. Found my way back here, after all. Just didn't risk huntin' on th' way back 'cause I wasn't able t' move fast enough t' chase anything down an' didn't want t' invest th' time it woulda taken t' wait in lurk fer a meal. It's really been three months? Damn. Near summer then."

A slightly grim smile formed on Logan's face. That was Vic. He never had been one to waste time over the way things went. Just adapted and moved on. A poke back from Vic got his attention.

"Anything resemblin' food in th' area, lil brother? I'm hungry enough that I'd even give those fungus Drake an' Kitty-Kat were pickin' a go."

Hank gave his shoulder a light pat.

"I think we can provide something geared a bit more to your nutritional needs. Robert? The time has arrived for that food I requested earlier."

"Right!"

Bobby headed over to the cook fires, but wasn't too sure how much food he should take. Finally he decided to take a little of everything non-vegetable and enlisted Kitty and Ororo to give him a hand carrying it all back.

"Back with food!"

"Just a moment."

To Logan's amusement, Hank took a minute to drape a sheet over his patient. But he was glad that Hank had when Bobby entered followed closely by Kitty and Ororo.

"Thank you one and all - just be so kind as to leave the food on the table over there before you file back out please. And feel free to choose among yourselves who will be taking the next watch at the door."

Ororo told Bobby she'd watch the door for awhile, so he headed back to the cookfires to grab himself a snack. For her part, Kitty headed off to give her husband the latest update.

As she approached the small clearing where Ben was in the process of building a small home for them, Kitty's thoughts traveled back a couple of months to the less than enthusiastic reaction that Logan had had when she'd informed him that she and Ben were planning to have a Jewish wedding - well, as close to a Jewish wedding as they could manage under the circumstances.

When Logan had been foolish enough to mention their age difference, she immediately reminded him that the age difference between himself and Rahne was far greater. Once she'd made him swallow that pill, she quietly explained that the disaster had caused both herself and Ben to draw closer to their religious roots - and each other. He didn't have anything to say against it after that.

Creed was another matter, but he limited himself to a relatively good natured teasing about her and her tendancy to have the hots for brawny guys with literal hard bodies. She really couldn't deny that - not that she wanted to.

Spotting his orange form in the distance, Kitty gave him a wave and hurried faster. Not that she was happy that Creed had come back in such bad shape, but at least that would give Ben something else to focus on. They hadn't even made the announcement yet that she was pregnant and she certainly wasn't showing more than a tiny paunch, but you would have thought she was due to give birth any minute from the way he was fretting. The man was definately a world-class worrier.


	10. Chapter 10

**Part X**

After looking over the food, Hank ventured forth his opinion that Victor's recovery might be best served by frequent small meals with naps between. To his slight surprise, both of them agreed with his assessment. Which led to laughter as Hank grumbled that every time he had himself properly prepared to argue a point, they spoiled it by going along.

Logan helped Victor get into position, then put some food in front of him to get started with as Hank took a moment to put a fresh wrap around his head to protect the sockets. It didn't take long for Victor to polish off the suggested meal, but Hank had long enough to switch off the soiled bedding. It was only a matter of minutes before Victor was asleep again.

Hank let out a tired sigh, then put an arm around Logan to steer him outside. They could both use some air and he wanted a short chat. Ororo wasn't who he expected to be at the door, but he just gave her a nod as they walked past.

"It's likely to be a long road, especially by your normal standards, compadre'. About how long do I have before my patient stops being so co-operative?"

"Hard t' say, Hank. One day, mebbe two. Let him outside some, might buy a little more time. He's more likely t' rebel about havin' t' stay inside than he is 'bout anything else."

"This has pointed out the we really need to direct some of our energies during the coming months to building a medical area. Especially as I suspect you and your lady have ushered in the beginning of a population boom among us. And despite caution, accidents are bound to occur. Ororo, would you mind terribly holding down the fort while Logan and I get a bit of refreshment?"

Ororo noticed the brief hesitation from Logan as she agreed to stay, but then he allowed Hank to coax him off. She was of two minds herself, but she finally decided she would just look in on him without waking him.

As it turned out, she needn't have bothered to enter quietly. He spoke before she was even fully inside.

"You can quit tryin' t' sneak. Ain't asleep."

"Sabretooth…. I'm…"

"Whoa. Stop right there. I got a few things that need t' be said an' I'd appreciate a few minutes t' say 'em in."

"Alright then. I am listening."

"Good. First off, I don't take or give either guilt trips or pity parties. Second, what could be done by a doctor's already been done. Don't need no more doctors, nurses or babysitters. Last – offer I made about th' cubs? Takin' that back."

"Excuse me?"

"Taking back. Rescinding. Voiding th' offer. Runnin' out of ways t' phrase it, so hopefully you get th' idea."

"You no longer want children?"

"Never said that, Storm. But I've got some adjustments t' make 'fore I'm ready t' provide fer a pride."

"When the time comes again, I was wondering – will your mate be your equal?"

"Nope. Stupid thought in my book, godgirl. For any group t' work, nobody's equal. Everybody does what they do best. I ain't gonna be th' one carryin' around a belly full o' cubs. Not gonna be th' one breast feedin' 'em either. What I can do is protect 'em. Provide for 'em. Teach 'em what I know."

"I see. Prides are also known for having more than one female."

"Not really lookin' fer multiple gals if that's what yer tryin' t' get around t'. Not that I'm sayin' that might not ever happen. I'm not likely t' leave my reproductive years anytime in th' foreseeable future, Storm. I've been around through a buncha changes I'd never have bet on when I was younger. So – why box myself in when there's no real way o' tellin' what tomorrow'll bring?"

Ororo just watched him quietly for a minute before speaking again softly.

"You live very much in the moment, don't you?"

A puzzled expression was very evident.

"When else can we live, babe? You can remember yesterday an' think about tomorrow, but you can only live now."


	11. Chapter 11

**Part XI**

The recovery process went slowly. Far slower than Logan had expected it to. He was getting antsy, but Sabretooth took it in stride. By the third day, as predicted, Sabretooth was up and out. He was still wickedly thin, but there were signs of weight gain.

The other members of the colony quickly discovered that any sort of noise that implied pity or sympathy would earn them a swat - never involving claws, but hard enough to sting. They soon learned to keep any thoughts or sounds to themselves unless it was normal chat. Talking to him like nothing was different got a far more positive result.

By the sixth day, he came back into the main area covered with blood and dirt, carrying a dead rabbit in each hand which he dumped at Ororo's feet without comment. She made a face as some of their blood got on her, but didn't say anything. It became a daily ritual. He would bring in a catch and regardless whether it was furry, fish or fowl, he would carry it until he found where Ororo was and then drop it before leaving without a word. After a week of it, she went looking for Logan.

He seemed to have been expecting her from the smirk on his face when he saw her coming.

"Got a little blood on yer shoe, 'Ro."

"No - Sabretooth got a little blood on my shoe. You know him best. Why?"

He leaned back, watching her.

"Y'know, some birds will collect feathers and pebbles. Cats? Cats bring dead things."

She stared at him.

"This...... is related to courtship?"

"Most likely. Some o' us just aren't flower sorts. Not a big difference between th' two really. One's dead animal, other's dead plants."

"I prefer live flowers to cut ones."

"Can't accept things in th' spirit they were intended? Dead animals are what allowed us t' survive, 'Ro."

"I know... I know. It's just..."

Neither of them noticed the shadow that moved not far downwind from where they were speaking.

The following morning, Hank was doing his daily checkup on Sabretooth - changing the eye wrap. Looking for improvements in weight and muscle tone.

"Are you still eating fairly often?"

"Every two hours 'cept when I'm sleepin'. Logan bothers th' hell outta me otherwise."

"Bully for him. Still... you aren't putting on weight as well as I'd hoped. Your muscle tone has improved greatly though. Your daily hunts likely get the credit for that however."

"I'll start avoidin' lean meats an' go for the fattier portions. Bein' perfectly honest though, McCoy? My appetite ain't at all what it used t' be."

"Well, don't force yourself to eat more than you're comfortable with, Victor. We shall just have to trust that your body knows best until proven otherwise. It is, after all, still a relatively short time since you returned to us."

"Patience is an over-rated virtue, McCoy. If yer done pokin' an' proddin', I gotta go huntin'."

"Have at it, Herr Victor. Enjoy."

It was near dusk when Sabretooth came back into the main area - later than he'd come back from a hunt since his return. Also different, he had a sack in each hand. Lifting his head, he took the sack in his left hand and flung it in Bobby's direction.

"I caught 'em – you pluck 'em, Drake."

The other sack was taken to Ororo, but he didn't drop it at her feet. This time, he offered it to her.

"Yours."

She took the sack cautiously, then frowned at it. Was it… moving? She opened the bag slightly to look inside, then came near to dropping it when a bird burst out and took wing.

"Goddess!"

From where he remained crouched nearby, Sabretooth smirked.

"I did give 'em t' you, so guess you can do whatever you please with 'em."

Holding the top of the bag more firmly, she tried to judge number by weight.

"How many are there?"

"Dozen. Well… eleven now, I suppose."

A dozen. A dozen live birds. Plus however many he had brought back to add to their food stores. No wonder he had been gone most of the day. She looked over to Logan in hopes of getting some clue as to what she should do, but he was wearing his poker face.

Part of her wanted to open the sack and let them all fly free. Then she thought of the time, effort and patience that he had to have put toward catching them. Her thoughts went back to what Bobby had said when Sabretooth was still missing – the number of dirty jobs he and Logan did so that the rest of them didn't have to. Including the killing of the meat that fed them all. Letting the birds go free would seem like the equivalent of throwing flowers back into someone's face. But killing them would seem equally wasteful since he had already brought others for cooking.

One of the goats bleated and another thought suddenly came to her and she found herself looking for Hank, who was fortunately watching. Apparently with most of the rest of the colony to see what she would do.

"Hank? Could these birds be made flightless without harming them?"

"Oh yes. Just a matter of keeping the correct feathers trimmed off, Ororo. Might I ask what you have in mind for them?"

"People have raised quail and other birds for centuries. I would like to see if I could successfully keep these alive - see if we could get them to lay eggs so we could raise them ourselves. It might give us another source for meat. The eggs might not be large enough to bother with, but the only way to find out is to try."

Hank came over and took a grip on the sack.

"Tut tut, dear lady. Quail eggs, though dainty, have long been regarded as a gastronomic delight. And what would London pubs have been without their jars of pickled eggs? If we can coax them to produce, we shan't let the bounty go to waste, never fear. If you would care to accompany me to an enclosed space, I will endeavor to show you the plummage that you will need to trim."

As she started to follow Hank, Ororo gave a side glance to see Sabretooth's reaction only to find he was gone. The damn man had blended back into the shadows and left. Logan, however, seemed to approve of her scheme. In fact, she could hear him already discussing getting a coop built quickly - as well as some musing about the possibility of taming some rabbits as well.

Her eyes moved back to the sack and she couldn't help but wonder how much significance Sabretooth was placing on all of this. And if the next move was supposed to be his or hers.


	12. Chapter 12

**Part XII**

Things settled back down for the colony and plans restarted for dividing the group into two parts. To Ororo's amusement, there were no large discussions of who would be going with which of the two brothers. Those of a more independant nature gravitated toward Sabretooth, those who preferred a more pronounced group feeling leaned toward Logan. No-one even bothered commenting on Sabretooth's eyes any longer. If it had made any difference in his hunting ability, none of them could tell. He accepted it, they did the same.

Kitty had announced her pregnancy - well, more like confirmed it when Logan questioned her. With mid-summer's arrival, she was already well along and from all indications, she should be delivering in the latter days of fall. Ben was a wreck - proud one minute, jittery the next. Ororo had been nearby one evening when he was voicing his concerns to Logan and Hank. Fears of what his mutated genes would do when mixed with Kitty's mutant genes was keeping him from enjoying the moment. For her part, Kitty was going serenely along. If she had any worries, she wasn't letting them show. She wasn't the only expectant mother either.

Which had them all looking toward their winter stores carefully. There would be infants this year - and their mothers were going to need to stay well nourished so that they could provide the breast milk. Still, prospects were looking positive. Of Ororo's eleven birds, five had survived and had been joined by others caught by Sabretooth. Logan had tried as well, but finally conceded that catching birds was not his strong point. He had, however, made a rabbit hutch which now boosted a dozen residents he caught. As with the birds, not all had survived adjusting to captivity, but those that had were doing well.

As Hank pointed out as he looked over the new goat kids, life was bursting out all over. He and Reed had just finished what they were calling a 'cold house'. A small, one-room hut with nothing but shelves inside, built into the side of a hill so that three of the four walls were backed by soil. Solar panels were in place to power a small cooling unit. The walk-in refridgerator was already proving its worth by keeping gathered fruits and berries fresher longer.

In the pre-dawn still, Ororo moved quietly away from the main compound and she could now see the point that Logan and Sabretooth had been trying to make the previous winter. Just over a year and they had become obvious. Trails had formed in the common traffic areas - it would hardly take an experienced tracker to find them even in this low light. Spreading out their numbers made sense.

Nearing the water, she paused at the sound of splashing. A faint smile formed and she shifted her walk to keep upwind. As expected, it was Sabretooth. He was the only one other than herself that really enjoyed an early morning dip. One hand resting on a tree by the water's edge, Ororo watched him as he swam. While still not back to where he was, he had filled out to where he no longer had all of his bones showing starkly and his muscles were well-defined again.

Ororo had to admit that he had a certain beauty to his form. His movements even in the water were strong, but supple. Sensual in an undeliberate way with that underlying feline grace that was so much a part of him. The power you could almost see that was lurking just under the surface and that could erupt at any moment.

She continued to watch until he hauled himself out of the water and had laid down on the bank. Then she entered the water smoothly, enjoying the brisk sensation of the cold water against her bare flesh. She didn't plan to stay in the water long, but she wasn't going to deprive herself of the pleasure of even a brief swim. By the time she reached the bank near him, Sabretooth had propped up his upper body by resting on his elbows.

"Seems we've run into each other here again. I got dibs this time, but I got nothin' against sharin' th' space."

"Thank you."

It felt odd to admit to herself that he was far more gracious to her intrusion than she'd been to his. Then again, some things had changed since that day. Odd. It had been perhaps five months since that day. In many ways, it seemed like it was much longer.

She paused, considering what to say. Then the thought came that words were sometimes just so much noise. Walking over, she knelt down beside him and then rested a hand on his abdomen. Little doubt his senses would already be informing him of her intentions. The hand was just to let him know that her mind was in agreement with her body this time.

Ororo was a little surprised by his lack of immediate response and more surprised when he posed a question.

"How strong is th' light here? We need some place that's kinda dim an' secluded."

Standing, she look around until she spotted an area with thick foliage not too far away. She reached a hand down to him which he took as he got to his feet. As she began to guide him to the area, her tone had a bemused edge to it.

"I didn't really think that modesty would have been an issue with you."

He didn't reply until they had entered the small clearing.

"Modesty's got nothin' t' do with it."

Reaching up, he removed the wrap over his eyes and she found that intense gaze was back. Her expression was asking quite a few questions and he didn't wait for her to voice them.

"Yep, they're finally healin'. Still wearin' th' wrap 'cause they're too sensative t' light right now. McCoy figures that'll pass soon, but until then, I can hunt better without 'em than with 'em."

"I understand - but why remove the bandages now then?"

"Just that fer this, I'd rather have all o' my senses on board."

She stepped closer with a smile.

"Why Victor - that was almost romantic."

His expression quirked a bit at her use of his first name, but he didn't object. He just reached out for her.

"It was? Guess I'll have t' watch out fer that."


	13. Chapter 13

**Part XIII**

It didn't take long for the others to figure out the new dynamics. Neither Ororo nor Sabretooth said anything, but she began to be at his side for all of the group meetings and put in her input to him as if she had always been doing it that way. As with most things involving Sabretooth, anything he accepted as perfectly natural was accepted by the rest without question. At least not questions to him. They quickly learned that Ororo was equally disinclined to answer questions.

Hank was thoroughly amused by the entire situation and, regarding Hank, Ororo soon observed why the good doctor could get by with so much where Sabretooth was concerned. Hank never under-estimated Sabretooth's intelligence or 'dumbed down' anything he had to say to him. Small courtesies like that went a long way - as did Hank's study of the body language both brothers seemed to share. She learned about all of that when Hank took her to the side one afternoon for the first of a set of lessons. It was as if Hank opened another world to her. She had always wondered at how Logan and Sabretooth could attack in near perfect unison without communicating back and forth. Now she knew that they actually _were_ communicating, just without words. Hank explained that reading the two of them was imprecise due to the amount of information they could give and receive via scents, but he taught her the basics. It was sobering to see just how much of what the two of them had been saying that she'd been missing. No wonder he got so frustrated with trying to communicate - in many ways, they simply weren't speaking the same language.

By the time the leaves began to fall, the colony had divided into two. Ororo and Sabretooth's territory was to the west of the river that ran through the area. They picked an area above the falls as the spot to build their homes whereas Rahne and Logan picked a spot downstream. In the end, each group built one large communal home with the intent that families that could build places for themselves when spring came again. For winter though, staying close made the most sense. Hank also pointed out that both groups would have young children come spring and that the communal homes would be the perfect place for the youngsters to be watched over while most of their elders were occupied with hunting and other activities vital to their new lifestyles.

Ororo would be one of those birthing when spring came, but for now the newest mothers were Kitty and Doreen. Kitty's had been expected, Doreen's had not.

In Kitty's case, the baby had been estimated for late fall, but came closer to mid-fall. To Ben's delight, their son was was good-sized with a healthy pair of lungs - as perfectly formed as any newborn could be wished for. Names were debated back and forth, but when they introduced the newborn to the rest, it was as Johnny Grimm. Their family group was part of Logan's pack now - no real surprise to anyone that knew of Kitty and Logan's extensive past.

The surprise additon was to Sabretooth's pride - and to the other surviving member of the Fantastic Four. Reed had been in a self-created shell ever since the devastation and had really only come with the colony because he couldn't bear to be in the city with the memories it housed. Doreen, the very bubbly personality also known as Squirrel Girl, couldn't stand to see anyone so obviously depressed, so she had begun a quiet campaign to lure him back to life. To the surprise of practically everyone, after several weeks of Reed seeming to take little notice of the young mutant, he began to respond. When Ben heard Reed laugh again for the first time in months, he gave Doreen a hug that left her needing air. But even Ben hadn't been aware of just how close the two had become until Doreen started putting on weight in an obvious spot.. Even more surprising was how quickly she grew - from the time they first realized she was pregnant until she gave birth was not more than four months - within two weeks of Kitty.

Doreen and Reed's newborn was also a boy who they named Joseph - and appeared full term. That gave Hank some pause and he began to observe Doreen carefully. A month later, he called Logan, Victor and Ben to meet him away from the camps. One thing all of them knew was that whatever Hank had to say, it was both sensitive and likely bad news.

Hank was obviously not happy - never a good sign. But he took a deep breath and started in.

"This isn't easy for me. I find I've become quite attached to our resident rodent, but I believe I have the reason for the rapid birth of Doreen's child. I don't have access to elaborate testing, of course, but from all indications, her body operates at a faster pace than the average person. Approximately twice the rate would be my guess. Which explains her high energy as well as her relatively large food intake. She heals about twice as fast - and I fear, age twice as fast. Which would mean that our dear squirrel will likely be gone of old age within twenty to thirty years. Possibly less considering the stress that will be placed on her system. I know she looks older, but the young lady is just over twenty-two years old."

The other three exchanged looks. They all had the opposite effects from their powers - extended life. Then Vic shook his head.

"They're both in my bunch. They need t' be told. Well... not like we're tellin' 'em she's only got a year at least."

In the end, they decided to all go together - the biggest trouble proved to be catching Doreen long enough to talk to her. Active by nature anyway, fall weather seemed to kick everything into high gear for her and she could be found gathering from sunup to sundown except for breaks to feed her baby. Reed knew something was up, but didn't question them as they sat and chatted with him while waiting for her to return.

She came back with a sack full of nuts. The first winter had shown that Doreen's body simply wasn't designed to handle meat. She didn't want to put anyone else to extra work, but she was determined to make sure there would be plenty of nuts, dried berries and dried fruits for the coming winter. They waited until she had settled down next to Reed, then Victor started in.

"There may be better or kinder ways t' do this, but I've always been a believer o' gettin' th' facts out an' dealin' with 'em. Dorrie - Hank here is pretty sure that yer body goes at a faster clip than most do. And that means yer most likely goin' t' age a lot faster than you should."

He stopped at that point as he noticed that neither of the couple seemed particularly upset. In fact, Doreen smiled at him.

"Have you all been worried over that? Reed figured that out months ago - we just didn't think it was anything to bother anyone else about. You're all sweet, but we figure we have about the same amount of years left to us, so that works out fine."

Logan and Vic exhanged looks - the girl was telling the truth by her scent. Not only not a bit upset, but practically radiating contentment. Ben just smiled and moved over to kiss Dorrie on the head. Reed reached up and patted Ben on his stony shoulder.

"You are one of a kind, lady. Glad you had the good sense to notice that, Reed."

The other three left out quietly and headed back to their own winter preparations. First snows weren't far off.


	14. Chapter 14

**Part XIV**

Late September brought them some days that were more mid-summer than fall. It also brought a new addition to the colony - a full grown one. Shaman was making his rounds, bringing a share of the medical supplies he had been scavenging from abandoned clincs to Hank. He also brought a nurse. Namid, an Ojibwe woman who'd been on her own since the devastion hit.

He had found her at one of the clinics - she had been the only survivor among the workers there and, after sitting down with her, he found out why. She was a mutant with a healing talent - not strong, but enough to help her pull through from her injuries. It had taken her over a year to heal herself, but she had managed it and had then made her way back to the clinic she worked at. Lonely and tired of living on scavenged cans of food, she jumped at the chance of trying for acceptance at the colony. Cities didn't appeal to her due a drawback of her powers. Empathy that she was unable to fully turn off. Cities were just too much stimulation for her and made getting rest impossible.

There was never really any question but that she'd start out in Logan's pack due to Hank being there. Hank took her under his wing and tried to help her adjust, but quite frankly, it wasn't the best of times to be merging into the group. It was less than two weeks later than the second winter blew in with a vengence.

The first winter had been fairly mild. For those who weren't used to weather in the far north and couldn't comprehend another winter being worse, the coming winter didn't really seem all that huge of a deal. Dorrie's near frantic gathering was the subject of more than one joke - mostly good-natured, But anyone that had been of the opinion that the preparations for winter had been overly elaborate quickly changed their minds when that first blizzard of the season hit. One complaint heard was that it wasn't even really winter yet. As Sabretooth told them: "Take all complaints up with Mother Nature, kiddies. Winter starts when she damn well wants it t' start."

That storm struck so unexpectedly that some of both groups were caught out in the weather. Ororo was under strict orders from Hank not to use her weather warping abilities except in dire emergency, but fortunately Bobby, Logan and Vic were able to combine their efforts and locate all the missing people before any were seriously frostbitten. Namid's gentle healing powers proved their worth in helping heal the painful chilblains that developed as the near-frozen rescuees started warming up. Nothing could have eased her doubts about the usefulness of her abilities more - or earned her acceptance as quickly.

The snows grew deep and the cold intense, putting the new communal homes to the acid test. Drafts were quickly found and plugged, any extra hides and furs used further line the inside walls. The central fire had to be kept going, but didn't have to be kept blazing in order to keep the homes reasonably cozy. The only real trouble developed after the first month. Logan said it was a bad case of what he called 'cabin fever' - which Hank credited as being the likely problem. Only Vic, Logan and Bobby could survive during a blizzard and the storms could come fast with little to no warnin. That meant it wasn't safe for the others to get out of sight of the homes even on the rare occassions that the snows quit blowing for a few hours. Enclosed spaces with the same faces every day had them getting, quite honestly, a little sick of the sight of each other.

To try and reduce the strain that was creating on relationships, Hank began to strongly encourage everyone to take up some kind of craft that they could be working on during the foul weather season. Namid again came to his aid. It turned out that as a girl, her grandmother was very insistant that all of her grandchildren would not only know of native crafts, but would have a working knowledge of them. So while she was not necessarilly great at any of them, Namid knew enough basics to show the others. Not all of the materials were available, of course, but it was a start and her talking about materials and methods used by her grandmother for doing beadwork, quillwork, basket weaving and forming birch bark boxes at least gave them new things to think about and helped relengthen tempers that had grown a bit short.

Cabin fever wasn't as large of a problem in Vic's pride. For one thing, the ones that had been drawn to his group tended to have at least a little of the loner aspect to their personality so they were pretty good at tuning each other out and losing themselves to their own thoughts. The other difference was, quite frankly, Ororo. As her figure expanded for the growing infant, her mood became increasingly tranquil and the feeling rippled throughout the Pride. Even Vic was more prone to making a rumbling noise that no-one was nervy enough to call a purr.

Reed was immersed in looking into ways to harness some of the blizzard's force. He recruited Bobby to help with making a windmill out of ice to see how workable that might be. On the third attempt, Bobby managed to form a workable one and, while it didn't survive the storm, it did fully charge the battery attached to it before it broke. Bobby immediately began to replace it - now that he knew what worked, it didn't take him very long at all to recreate it. If they could fully charge their battery bank by spring, it would be another step toward making the medical center Hank wanted to create a reality. As Hank had pointed out as strongly as he could without making everyone paranoid, so far they had been very lucky not to have experienced any major injuries or illnesses, but they really shouldn't press their luck and wait for an emergency to occur. He had stressed as well that it wouldn't really take all that much - enough room for possibly three or four beds and an area that could be made sterile. An isolation area would also be nice, but that was something that wasn't as vital as just having a place to work to begin with.

The big debate became where the clinic should be built. Logan's thought was to put it somewhere where it was a bit hidden so that it could be a refuge - Vic's argument was that if an attack did come one day, the clinic should be in one or the other group area so that both supplies and the injured could be better defended. The storms had ended the debates until the arrival of spring, but Vic was fairly confident his version would win out. After all, Hank and Namid would be spending most of their time at this clinic thing. They didn't pick the Pack because they wanted to be off to themselves.

Near the end of the year, there was a mild week that was more like the previous winter. Both groups took advantage of the break to do minor repairs where they could and to bring in more wood for fuel. Bobby was in the middle of pulling free some broken branches when he heard a roar. Rule number one that Vic had established after the split - if he sounded an alert, everyone went back to the communal home immediately - no hesitation, no questions. He abandoned the branch he'd been trying to free and headed back with what he'd already gathered. As soon as he reached a clear area, he could see what the alert was for - a dark storm cloud moving in faster than he could run. He barely reached the entrance when the winds hit and the world around him turned stark white. He didn't see who came up behind him, but from size alone, he could guess it was Vic.

They wrestled their way inside the door - no easy feat with the swirling winds fighting them. Breathing hard, Bobby felt Vic give him a pat on the shoulder just before he called out roll. A few of them were windblown, but everyone was accounted for. As soon as Vic was assured of that, he shook the snow off of himself before taking the towels Ororo had brought over for them. Vic never mentioned how far away he'd been, but once he had dried off, he went over to where Ororo had settled down, curled up beside her and slept for most of the rest of that day.

Mother Nature seemed to be charging a fee for the week of mild weather. The storm lasted longer than any they'd lived through so far - it wasn't until the fifth day that the howling died down. There was no telling how long they'd have before the next storm hit, so everyone broke into a flurry of activity. Clean snow was scooped into barrels to bring in to melt for the water they'd use for everything but drinking. Buckets were used for the snow that would be purified for drinking - Reed was already setting up to start distilling it. The longer than usual storms had drained most of their water supplies.

Vic and Bobby headed outside to see how well the compound had weathered the storm. Bobby was pointing out a break when he realized he was being ignored. Looking over his shoulder, he saw Sabaretooth standing stock still with an expression on his face that prevented Bobby from saying anything. Without warning, Sabretooth started running, calling back as he went.

"Trouble, Icecube! Keep everyone in until you hear from me!"

Blinking, Bobby just stared for a moment as Vic disappeared from sight. Then he heard it. A thin howl on the air that could barely be made out. Rahne immediately came to mind and he hurried back inside to let everyone know that there was something wrong at the other camp.


	15. Chapter 15

**Part XV**

At the halfway point, Sabretooth let out a relatively small roar - he was saving most of his breath for the run. He knew it had been enough when the howl cut off. The snow and ice cut down on his speed, but he still made pretty good time. His eyes narrowed as he skidded to a stop - most of the other group was outside, but there was a noticeable exception. His brother.

Much as he'd grown to like Rahne, when she was upset, her brogue made it impossible for him to understand a thing she was trying to say.

"McCoy! Translation!"

Sabretooth ended up getting both Hank and Namid as Namid moved to lay her hands on Rahne's shoulders to try and help calm her down as Hank moved to Sabretooth's side.

"She's had a few days to get worked up, Victor. Logan didn't make it back in before the last storm struck. If it had just been him holing up until the storms stopped, he should have made it the rest of the way here by now."

Nodding, taking everything in as he raised his head to test the air. Then he moved over to Rahne - Namid backed away as he did. The large man was still mostly unknown to her and made her nervous.

"Rahne... I'll find him. You go back in there an' take care o' those pups. Trust me?"

Namid's presence and Sabretooth's determination both helped Rahne get herself back under control. Raising up on her toes, she gave Sabretooth a light kiss on his cheek.

"I trust you. We'll be waiting."

He gave her a half-pat/half-hug, then looked around to the rest.

"I need details, people. A place t' start. Who saw him last - which direction had he gone?"

The most useful information came from Ben - Logan had given him a rough idea of where he was headed. North to a beaver dam that was on the smaller of the two rivers that ran through the area. He had planned to get a good look at how much water was backed behind the dam to estimate if they needed to be worried about downriver flooding once the melt began. Well, better than nothing.

Sabretooth headed back to the Pride, letting out a roar when he was getting near. Everyone was waiting for him by the time he got back and a small smirk formed. Not even with him a year yet and they'd already learned to tell the difference between his 'meeting' roar and his 'emergency' roar.

"Jimmy never made it back 'fore th' last storm. I need a pack o' dried fish t' go with me. If he's been trapped about a week, he's likely t' need food. Icecube - I want you with me on this excursion. We may not make it back 'fore another storm closes in. Ororo - Reed - you two keep all these other yahoos near camp. We don't need t' add any more folks t' th' list o' ones t' hunt for."

Doreen darted off and returned quickly with two thick packets of dried fish. Sabretooth gave her a quizzical look. She just grinned back - she was one of the few that could meet his gaze head on and still give a grin. He could admire that kind of nerve.

"You said it yourself - you might not make it back before the next storm hits. You and Bobby will need some food yourselves if that's the case."

"Good thought, Dorrie."

He gave her hair a ruffle and lowered his voice quite a bit. She was one of the other with animal senses - he knew she'd hear him plainly enough.

"An' keep an eye on yer man. He tends t' get caught up in his thoughts an' ferget where he is sometimes."

Her reply was a quick hug before she headed back over to take the baby back from Reed. Then he went over to Ororo, laying one hand on her abdomen.

"We'll be back soon, gal. I don't expect any trouble outside o' th' weather, but.."

Ororo reached up a hand and laid her fingers on his lips.

"We will be fine. The sooner you begin, the sooner you will find him. Go."

Taking hold of her hand, he gave it a light squeeze, then turned.

"Com'on, Bobby-boy. We're burnin' daylight."

One advantage that they had was Bobby being able to speed them along to the rough area where Logan was supposed to have been last. The storm, needless to say, had not been helpful with maintain a trail, so Sabretooth set to work casting around the area for any indication of where Logan might have been. After a couple of hours, he froze in his tracks, frowned and resniffed the air. That immediately drew Bobby's attention.

"Did you catch a whiff of him, Sabes?"

"Nope. Not unless he's gone t' Hell – which I don't suppose I could strictly rule out. But what I'm smellin' is sulfur – com'on."

It took them until near dark to reach the remains of what looked to be a swimming pool complex, of all things. Bobby was puzzled but Sabretooth just gave a grin.

"I'd forgotten 'bout this place. Mineral hot spring – used t' be a visitors' attraction. Place is pretty much a ruin, but that hot spring was here long before it an' looks like it'll be here a long time after."

Bobby nodded, moving closer and watching the steam rising off of the water. Looked plenty hot, but that wasn't what caught and held his attention. It was a patch of vines that had been cut down to one side of the waters.

"Sabes – take a look at this. I think we might have found somewhere Logan was at least for a little while."

Coming over, he examined the remaining ends. Whatever had been cut free had either been buried by the blizzard or swept away by its' winds, but the marks and faint scent were enough to confirm Bobby's call.

"Good eyes, Icecube. This may have been where he was comin' back from – way th' lay o' th' land is right here, he wouldn't have seen th' storm clouds closin' in until they were practically on top o' him. Don't' think th' storm hit while he was here though. If it had, he'd o' just stayed near th' hot spring until it blew over."

Squatting down near a pool of steaming water, he considered.

"Okay – let's run with this. Jimmy found this place. Looked around long enough t' assure himself that no-one else but animals are callin' it home. Started back fer his Pack, but th' storm had been sneakin' up while he was busy an' he gets caught in it. If he hadn't been halfway back or close t' that, he'd o' turned back this way an' rode it out here."

Idly making an ice statue – his version of doodling while thinking – Bobby looked back to the steaming water and frowned a bit.

"I didn't think even you guys could find a trail during a blizzard. Even one you'd made yourself."

"Yer right. We can't. If we got an idea where we are though, we have a sense o' space, if you follow what I mean. I may not know where it is that I am, but I can tell pretty much which direction I'm facin' an' if I'm underground or not. That sorta thing. So if Jimmy was headed back an' he knows home is roughly due straight south, he could keep on track that way."

"But if there was a hole or a river or something in front of him?"

Sabretooth nodded – Iceman's thoughts were right in line with his own.

"During a blizzard, he'd never see 'em. Might walk straight into somethin' an' never know until he was fallin' in."

"So. We head toward the Pack's area until we get close to halfway, then turn straight south and see what we find?"

"I think that's as good a place as any t' start. If Jimmy had found this hot spring sooner, we'd have heard word o' it. But it's getting' pretty dim now. We stick out th' night here an' start at first light in th' mornin'."

They picked out a cave to settle in – a small pool of heated water was near the entrance and going around it, the back of the cave was warm, but not too steamy to be comfortable. Sabretooth dropped off his backpack, then went out and cut down a few pine boughs, dipping them in the hot water long enough to get the ice and snow off of them before shaking them off well and laying them down to make two pallets. Pulling out a pair of tightly rolled blankets, he tossed one to Bobby before unrolling the other and laying it over one of the pallets. They didn't bother with building a fire – they didn't need to cook and they were warm enough that Bobby shifted out of his ice form and held a hand briefly over the surface of the pool before retreating back to settle on his blanket.

"That stuff is scalding! How could people come here to soak in that?"

Pulling one of the packets of dried fish out of his backpack, Sabretooth opened it and passes some over to Bobby.

"They didn't soak until it was mixed with cooler water. That's what those ol' pools out there were for. Kept th' rich folks from parboilin' themselves."

Bobby bit into one of the pieces of dried smoky salmon. It was something he'd come to enjoy – in moderation. A steady diet of nothing but dried fish could get old really fast. Of course, a steady diet of anything could get old fast, so not really any slight to the fish.

"Sabes? Not that I'm trying to get all up in your business, but doesn't it make you crazy? I mean – we know he's out there. And here we are."

Sabretooth took another bite of fish, chewed it slowly then swallowed before answering.

"Yeah – I know. Don't care for waitin' – not really what you'd call a terribly patient sort of by nature. But I've learned. An' if there's something out there that was able t' hold Jimmy, might be just as able t' hold me as well. So, patient. We only move when we can at least attempt t' see what we may be getting' into. Means we camp when it gets dark an' if a storm rises, you make us a shelter wherever we happen t' be an' we ride it out."

He took another bite of fish, then looked down at the remaining portion in his hand.

"Not tryin' t' give me an' Jimmy that much importance, but our groups are still young. We ain't had enough time yet t' pass on everything we'd need t' for them t' thrive without us. Now, I ain't saying most wouldn't survive, but that ain't th' same thing. An' gals don't tend t' breed as well if a group ain't thrivin'."

Bobby grinned a bit at the way Sabretooth phrased things – he was none too sure that Ororo would appreciate the word breeding in use with herself. Not that he was going to risk life and limb to mention it to her, of course. Speaking of risking life and limb, he always had questions he would've liked to ask. Chewing another bite of fish, he debated before finally deciding to forge ahead.

"You and Logan – you've both been around so long. How do you handle it?"

Sabretooth raised a brow – the kid was feeling nervy today. He stopped that thought and took a longer, deeper look. No – no kid anymore. Well past it really. Huh – time flies. Finally, he gave a shrug.

"Me an' Jimmy handle things different. He – well, he forgets a lot. Some o' that was done to him – some o' that he did t' himself. He gets involved deeper with folks more often than might strictly be good for him. But, that's part o' how he's made. Doubt he could change it now even if he wanted to. Which I doubt he does. With me? Well, I guess I just don't pay that much attention. Time on me's sorta like water on a duck's back. We know it's there, but it bein' there don't really affect much how we do things."

Eyes moving over to look at the hot spring.

"S'why I like bein' out in th' wilds. This spring here was likely ancient 'fore I was even born. Trees – there are a few that've been around longer'n me too. I get attached t' places somewhat. Like t' come back an' visit 'em. Folks? Well, t' be strictly honest, not all that many been memorable enough t' leave an impression on me."

"Not even women?"

The long pause made him wonder if he'd crossed a line, but Bobby took the absence of growling as a good sign.

"Some stuck. Some because I knew 'em a good long while – one, I didn't even know 48 hours. Helluva woman."

"Mutant?"

"Naw. Human as they come."

Sabretooth effectively ended that conversation by laying down and rolling over.

"Better grab you a nap too, Bobby-boy. Dawn comes early."


	16. Chapter 16

**Part XVI**

As promised, Sabretooth had them up and running at first light. They seemed to be the only things moving. Even the air was perfectly still. Bobby found it odd that a bright, perfectly still day could be on the creepy side.

Equally creepy was the silent, steady movements of Sabretooth just ahead of and below his ice slide. By Bobby's count, Sabes had said exactly two sentences consisting of a grand total of four words: 'Get up' and 'Let's move'. Despite what others might say about his occasional maturity lapses, Bobby knew better than to aggravate an already high strung feral. He glided along quietly in Sabretooth's wake. Besides, it took his full attention to combat the ever-present glare to look for any signs of where Logan might be.

After close to two hours, Sabretooth paused, then shifted his direction to straight due south. About a half hour or so after that, Bobby's slightly elevated viewpoint gave him a glimpse off something sparkling in the distance. He went a little higher to get a better view and broke the silence.

"Sabes! We're going to be coming up on some water soon if we keep going this way. Pond or a lake – can't quite tell the size from here."

The words were barely out of his mouth when Sabretooth picked up new speed. It only took a couple of beats for the reason to dawn on Bobby. Last winter, Logan had given a wide berth to frozen water. Even ice that held up perfectly well for Sabretooth was prone to crack underneath the increased weight that the metal bound to his bones gave to Logan's body.

Bobby picked up his own speed, quickly gliding past Sabretooth, then over the icy water. About halfway between shores, he saw them. Three points shining in the sunlight protruding up through the ice only a few inches. If it hadn't been for the glint of light catching his eyes, he might have missed seeing them altogether. It gave him a sick feeling, knowing what they meant. Logan was trapped under there and likely had been for a week now.

"Sabes! I found him! Don't come out onto the ice – there may be more thin spots. I'll make you a solid path out."

The next part took far longer than either of them cared for, but they couldn't rush the job and risk the metal making Logan's body sink to the bottom. The sun had already passed the mid-day point when they finally drug him to shore. His color was bluish and his temperature as icy as what they'd freed him from. There were several spots nearby where the last set of winds had scoured away the snow all the way down to the rockhard ground. Leaving Logan on the shore, Sabretooth repeated what he'd done at the hot springs, finding and pulling down several boughs, setting them down to make a pallet and covering it with one of the blankets before hauling Logan up. He took a few minutes now to carefully slice away and break away the stiff frozen clothing from Logan's body before resting him on the blanket. Dropping down his backpack at his brother's side, Sabretooth looked back to Bobby.

"He's not gonna be in any sort o' shape t' travel on his own fer quite a while. We need t' warm him up gradually an' figure out how t' get him home. Think you can whip up an igloo around him while I rustle up some tinder fer a fire?"

"On it, Sabes."

He already knew he needed to build it with a smoke outlet, so Bobby got to work immediately. He'd built many during his teen years for the other kids to mess around with during winter, so he didn't have to waste time trying to figure out the best way – he just made it quickly. One thing Bobby didn't do was look at Logan any more than he had to. Uber-creepy looking at someone that was undeniably as dead looking as anyone he'd ever seen, yet knowing - or at least hoping - that he was alive somewhere under that ice crusting his hair.

"Gonna need t' make that entrance a bit larger, Drake. It's my butt that has t' fit through it."

Sabretooth dropped his load of deadwood as Bobby made the adjustment, then he tried it out. Working his way through the L-turn was a bit snug, but doable. Nodding to himself, then calling out.

"Pass th' wood through, then com'on in fer a minute."

Once Bobby was in, Sabretooth gave Logan a look, then turned his attention fully to Bobby.

"Okay, Drake, here's th' plan. You can move fast solo - there's enough daylight left that if you go full out, you should make it back t' our den 'fore dark. You tell 'Ro what we need an' then you leave that t' her an' take yer butt t' bed. You need as much rest as you can get, 'cause I expect that if th' weather holds, you'll head back here at dawn an' soon as we can get Logan ready t' pack outta here, we'll be headin' straight back. A bear fur, some rope an' some kinda broth - that should do until we get him back. Now get goin'."

"Storm will skin me if I come back without you."

"Not once you explain that you grabbin' th' supplies an' bringin' 'em back with get all o' us back faster. I'm not gonna let Rahne see Jimmy like this, Her milk'll go sour."

Bobby hesitated only another moment before reaching over and briefly touching Sabretooth's shoulder. Then he hurried out and took off. It was going to be a race to get back before dark, but he rather enjoyed a good race.

Sabretooth took a moment to eat another fish portion before starting a small fire. Then he took out the second blanket from the backpack and removed his own overcoat. Sighing, he grimaced a bit as he laid down next to Logan and covered them both with the blanket and overcoat.

"Damn that metal o' yours, Jimmy - this is like bunking with Drake."

It ended up being a very restless night for Sabretooth. Igloos are fairly quiet, but his ears still picked up one sound that he really didn't want to hear - the howl of blizzard winds. The next time he woke was when Logan's body jolted - and he ended up with a set of claws deep in his gut before Logan's brain took in the fact that he was no longer trapped under the water. When it dawned on him who was with him, the claws retracted immediately and he grabbed onto Sabretooth.

"Oh hell... Vic?"

Sabretooth finally caught his breath enough to respond.

"Least you coulda done was let those damn metal claws warm up 'fore you stuck 'em in me."


	17. Chapter 17

**Part XVII**

It was about what Bobby had feared. Storm was far from pleased to see him coming into the den area solo. But as Sabretooth had predicted, she calmed down quickly at the news that they'd found Logan and he was only there to get enough supplies to transport Logan back as quickly as possible. Relieved, Bobby quickly relayed the items that they would need and went in to grab a nap as ordered.

He was still groggy when it dawned on him that Squirrel Girl was shaking his shoulder and asking him something. As he yawned and gave a stretch, he heard it - a storm. He cursed, then remembered that Doreen was there.

"I'm sorry... what did you ask?"

"Storm wants to know - are Sabretooth and Wolverine under any sort of cover?"

"Yes - Sabes had me build an igloo around Logan. They were both inside it when I left."

"Think it will hold?"

Bobby hesitated, then sighed.

"I honestly don't know. It will depend some on how rough the storm is and how long it lasts."

She nodded and headed off as Bobby went ahead and got up. He doubted he could go back to sleep right now any way.

As soon as he saw Storm, he started to worry. Her eyes were glowing and one thing he knew for a fact was that Hank strongly discouraged heavy power usage by pregnant females. Especially ones as far along as Storm.

Doreen was by her side - the rest of the Pride was giving her room. The glow slowly faded to the relief of all as Storm turned to them, hand resting on her belly. The movements showed very plainly that the child was moving around quite a bit.

"This has the feel of a short squall rather than a long one. Dorrie, prepare a pallet for Logan toward the far rear of the den. It won't be good for him to be too near the fire at first. We need to get the supplies ready with some extra food because Bobby's return to them will be delayed by at least a day."

Her tone left no room for argument and, despite feeling anxious about getting back, Bobby couldn't argue that she was more qualified to judge the weather than he was. Trying not to dwell on things he couldn't control, Bobby sat by the fire and enjoyed having a hot meal again.

Speaking of the weather, the winds were some of the worst of the year. Inside the igloo, Sabretooth frowned. Their shelter was taking a beating, but so far, Bobby's work was holding up. He'd spent a good part of his time since Logan jolted awake in holding him on the far side of the igloo while he coughed up, vomited and otherwise expelled lake water. There was no point in even attempting to feed him until that was over. When at long last an hour passed without heaving, Sabretooth pulled out the packet of fish.

"If yer throat's not too sore, you need t' try an' get some o' this down. 'Specially if th' weather starts dismantlin' our shelter later."

Shifting around, he made a slight face, but took both the fish and the water skin being offered. Looking down at the blood stains on Sabretooth's clothing.

"You healed up, Vic?"

"All but my clothes, lil brother. S'why I sent Drake on ahead. Knew you wouldn't wake up well an' didn't need him freakin' out on us."

"Good call. How'd you find me?"

"Part detective work, part knowin' you, but mostly luck, I suppose. If th' sunlight hadn't been bouncin' off yer claws, no tellin' how much longer it would've taken us t' find you, Jimmy. Good thing Drake has pretty sharp eyes."

"I'll be sure t' tell Bobby that you said he has pretty eyes."

"Asshole."

Only between brothers like them could 'asshole' sound like a term of affection.

"Eat all that fish you can stomache, Jimmy. I'm headin' on t' bed."

"We still gonna be sharin' th' same bed?"

"Yep. Unless you feel like goin' out in that mess to find more branches. Which I wouldn't advise. An' try t' keep yer damn claws t' yerself t'night."


	18. Chapter 18

**Part XVIII**

Bobby woke to Doreen shaking his shoulder gently again.

"Storm says the weather's calming down. You should be able to leave soon, so better get a good meal in you. I've almost got the pack ready for you, but do you think either of them will need fresh clothes?"

Bobby about hit himself for not thinking of that.

"Logan's were ruined, so I know he does. Sure it wouldn't hurt to take some for both of them. Thanks, Dorrie."

She just grinned and went around estimating who among the Pride was closest in size to Logan. Bobby going over to the Pack for clothes would just add on time to the trip and there was no guarantee how long there would be before the next blizzard hit. Storm had already warned them that the blizzard season was far from over. Dorrie quickly added the clothing to the bundle and tied it up. Now they just had to wait for the blizzard to fizzle out.

Back at the igloo, Logan was grumbling. His body was being slow to heal from all of the effects of freezing. Most of that was due to needing more protein than was currently available. The dried fish was gone now even though he was pretty sure that Vic hadn't taken much more than bite of it since he'd woken up. The achy, feverish feeling was getting on Logan's nerves - normally he had some reserves in his body to help with the healing process, but the extended time under the water and his body fighting it the entire time had used up every bit of stored fat in him.

The scent from Logan was making Vic anxious as well. Even with Dorrie doubling the food, it was long gone and more was needed if his brother was going to finish healing. Looking toward the entrance, he debated. He knew where the water was from where they were now, but finding his way back to the igloo in the blizzard might be another story. He would have been pacing if the ceiling of the igloo had been high enough. He was still staring at the entrance when Logan's voice broke into his thoughts.

"Vic? You ever wish things had been different?"

The snort Vic gave echoed in the small place as he moved away from the entrance and settled down near where Logan was laying on the pallet.

"Helluva a question t' be askin' me, Jimmy."

"I know, but now an' then I get t' thinkin'. 'Specially at times like now when there ain't much else t' do but think. We lost a lotta years outta our lives an' I know it's stupid t' dwell on coulda beens... but would you have done anythin' different?"

"Nope."

Logan gave his older brother a long hard look which faded into a puzzled one as he realized that Vic was being sincere.

"All th' shit we've both been through... an' no regrets, Vic?"

"Not now. If you'd asked me that question a few years back, I mighta answered it differently. See if you can follow me on this, Jimmy. Wantin' somethin' t' have been different or regretin' th' past would mean I ain't happy where I am right now. An' right now, I got a home, a mate, I'm about t' have a cub. Got my brother back. Got me back. If someone had shown me in th' past what I got now an' told me that I had t' fight through all o' Hell t' get there, I'd have started right in fightin'."

A slow smile started forming on Logan's face.

"I followed you, Vic. Can't find any fault t' yer reasoning. Life's been a helluva thing, but yer right. An' we're both pretty damn lucky. But I'm gonna ask one thing o' you."

"Yeh? What's that?"

"Don't press that luck by goin' outside. Blizzard won't last forever. I can outlast it. You know I can."

Vic looked to the entrance, then back. Then he gave a small sigh and moved around to take his place at his brother's back just the way he had when they were kids.

"Sleep's as good as way t' pass th' time as any. Shoulda brought a deck o' cards."

It was a good thing their body heat was keeping the area warm enough. The snows had covered over the small hole that had been left to vent smoke. Seemed like the snow had gotten thick against the outside now as well. Sounds were pretty muffled. The only noise Logan was really hearing clearly was Victor's low, rumbling breathing. That took him back a long way. And just like when he'd been a kid, he went to sleep to that sound.


	19. Chapter 19

**Part XIX**

Bobby took off as soon as Storm gave him the 'all-clear'. Snows were fairly deep again and were covering most of his usual landmarks, but he knew the main thing was to find that pond. If he found the pond, he could find Sabes and Logan. Still, he made a few wrong turns before he finally spotted that elusive spot. It was almost unrecognizable because the snow had settled over most of the ice and made it look like the land around it.

The snowdrifts were deep enough that the igloo was buried in it. That worried Bobby because of fresh air being cut off, so he dug down to where he knew the igloo should be as fast as he could and cleared the snow from the entrance so that he could push the pack through and then follow it inside. To his relief, they were both snoozing like a pair of hibernating bears, though Sabes was already stirring within a few seconds of him entering. He couldn't help but notice that Logan still didn't look too good.

"Rise and shine, Sabes – it's moving day. Because I'm not going within a mile of Storm before she gets a look at you."

Snorting, Vic gave a stretch and sat up, poking Logan as he did.

"I hope you got some chow o' some sort in that bundle."

Bobby's eyes couldn't help but notice the dark stains on Vic's clothes, but he didn't remark on them. Instead he passed over the drinking skin of broth and began untying the bundle.

"Dorrie put it together, but considering she asked about clothes, I'm sure she didn't forget some food. In fact….. "

He tugged out a tied-up skin that proved to be a double wrapped chunk of cold roasted meat and handed it over. Vic immediately cut off about a third of it before giving the rest to Logan along with the broth. The smell of the food got Logan moving a lot faster than the poking had and he immediately propped himself up to eat. He wolfed down the meat and broth while Vic just smirked a bit and ate his portion at a slower rate. While they were eating, Bobby was undoing the rest of the pack including passing over the clothes to them. The ones Dorrie had picked out for Logan were a bit large, but serviceable enough.

Vic and Bobby went outside with the bear fur going out first. An ice sled was formed fairly quickly and the ropes attached to it before the fur was laid over it, skin side down. Then they got Logan out along with the rest of their things. While not particularly happy about having to be pulled around on a sled like a pup, Logan had to concede that he wasn't up to speed enough to handle a run. And none of them had any desire to get caught in another storm.

The trip this time was aimed toward Logan's Pack - despite being told Storm had a place ready for Logan, Vic was very adamant on that point.

"If we put off gettin' Jimmy here back t' Rahne much longer, ain't gonna be an unnipped butt in th' Pack. Matter o' fact... Drake, I can pull this sled well enough. Go on ahead an' let 'em know we're on th' way. Give her somethin' t' do other than pace."

After Bobby took off, Vic noted that he hadn't heard Logan make any comments and stopped the sled long enough to check on him. To his amusement, Logan was sound asleep in his bundle of blankets and fur. Shaking his head, Vic went back to the front and took the ropes back up to start them on their way again. Despite making pretty good time, it was approaching dusk when they finally made it.

Rahne came running out as soon as they came into sight. Vic stopped the sled to let her get a good look and sniff of her mate.

"He'll be fine. Just needs a couple o' days o' mostly food an' rest then he'll be his usual ornery self. Best get him on inside an' don't let him too near th' fire until tomorrow."

"I have a warm spot ready for him – as well as you and Bobby if ye'll be staying. There a line of clouds coming from the North – appears we're in for another round."

He turned his head and frowned – the storm line was moving fast.

"Nope – appreciate th' thought, but we'd better high-tail it for home. Don't need Storm frettin' as heavy as she's gettin'. Com'on, Bobby-boy. Rahne and th' rest can take it from here."

"Godspeed, Victor."

As Hank and Ben came over to help Rahne with the sled, Bobby and Vic took off for their home den. It was a close thing. The storm broke just after they made it inside much to the relief of Storm.

"It's about time you made it back. Your son has been restless with you gone."

He didn't even bother to brush off any of the snow before moving over to her.

"Son, eh? Well, figures he'd start off bein' a stubborn cuss. Gettin' that from both sides o' th' gene pool."

Bobby was already flopping down on his bed and Storm knew that Vic was equally exhausted, whether he would admit it or not. He ate the bowl of food Dorrie brought over then followed Storm's light tug that led him over to their own space in the den. The cub was moving around quite a bit, but once they had both settled down and his rumbling noises began, the movements calmed down considerably. Storm chuckled and gave her stomach a pat.

"You're already his favorite lullaby. And mine as well for a few months now. Do you have one yourself?"

"Naw. Not if yer talkin' verbal ones. But if we can count yer scent, then I guess I do."

"Oh? Do I dare ask how it is that I smell to that nose of yours?"

A very fanged yawn erupted and he resettled before answering.

"Depends on yer mood. When yer calm an' in a good mood like right now? You kinda have a tinge t' yer scent that reminds me mostly of a warm, mild summer rain."

"Hm. Well, there are far worse things to smell like, I suppose."

"Oh yeh. But not a whole bunch that are better."

Smiling, she reached beside their bed for the brush that was there. She gave him a little nudge to get him to roll to his side with his back to her, then began slowly and carefully working the snarls out of his hair. By the time she finished, his rumbling had deepened to about the tone of an idling truck, a relatively good sign that he was deeply asleep. Or at least as deeply asleep as he ever got.

Bobby stretched on his own bed, grinning a bit. Their winter home was small enough that they could all hear Sabes and it was having a domino effect as everyone began finding their own areas and settling down for a nap. Just one more way they all seemed to take their cues from him. His thoughts went back to what Sabes had said about not wanting to claim that much importance for himself or Logan so far as the groups went. _Well, that's just too bad, ol' buddy. Like it or not, you and Logan are the backbones now and in the foreseeable future so far as I can tell. Which is just fine by me._

Then Bobby tugged up his blanket a bit and rolled over, watching little Joseph taking playful swats at his mother's squirrel tail. He started to say something to Dorrie, but dozed off before he could form the words.


	20. Chapter 20

**Part XX**

For awhile, it felt like winter was never going to end. The challenges of keeping everyone fed, warm and safe was wearing as February dragged on. Hunting was beyond poor and the horde of nuts that Dorrie had collected suddenly became an addition to everyone's menu. What little meat that did come in was made into stews with the remaining dried roots to make it stretch to feed everyone. Nursing and pregnant females got first picks of the food in both camps, but as a nod to those that had worked hard on the stores of food, while everyone might not have been comfortably full, no-one had to go hungry. When the snows finally ended in early March, even those fondest of winter were glad to see the end of it. Food supplies were down, but lasted long enough for fresh fish to make a welcome return to their tables. On the first day there was a good catch, both groups met up to eat together, compare notes and just in general catch up with one another. Hank took some time to give Storm a quick examination and doubted she's have to wait much longer.

Unlike last fall, no-one was making jokes about Dorrie's food storage tendancies - in fact, some of them were even discussing ideas with her on how they could do better for the next winter. One of her suggestions got the attention of both her husband and Hank - having Bobby use his powers to keep an underground cave icy and using the created area for a meat locker. Hank and Reed immediately started conferring on that - the area they were in did have a number of caves which were already naturally damp and cool. Plans were made with Bobby to test out a couple of them to see what temperature they could be brought to without Bobby having to spend too much of his time on them. Reed was of the opinion that if the chosen caves weren't too large and the entrance was closed off, they might stay cold enough if he only tended them every other day. Of course, the only way to know for sure would be to try it out. Hank also pointed out that if Bobby was on hand after a hunt to 'flash-freeze' the meat that was going to be stored, the frozen meats themselves would help to keep the area cold. Sabretooth chuckled and gave Dorrie a ruffle on his way by her. She'd given the resident eggheads a hobby for the rest of the month.

Hank's estimate on the remaining time of Storm's pregnancy proved accurate. The first child of Storm and Sabretooth entered the world during a thunderstorm in late March. Hank later joked that he had never been so commandingly summoned to a birthing as by the loudest crack of thunder he'd ever heard. Of course, all of them had known that there really wasn't any way that the weather wasn't going to respond when Storm went into labor. And on that note, they weren't disappointed.

Hank grabbed Namid's hand and the two of them made it to the Pride in near record time. They were both soaked by the time they arrived and had to take time to towel off before going in to check on Storm's progress. Sabretooth was showing he wasn't all big cat by staying by her side and her hands had a death grip on one of his arms. Hank knew that the odds were highly against him talking Victor into leaving, so he didn't even bother trying. At any rate, there wasn't time.

By the time Hank got in position to check on Storm's progress, the head was already presenting. The next crack of thunder was followed by the lusty cry from the newborn. Before th umbilical cord was even cut, Sabretooth was already testing the scent. He got an amused elbow from Hank just before he passed the child over to Storm's waiting arms.

"A son for you, Herr Fangmeister – very nice work by the way, Ororo. Have the two of you gone over any names yet?"

Storm settled her son between her breasts as Hank tied off and cut the cord. The drying hair was pale gold and reminded Ororo of ripe wheat stalks.

"Victor left the naming to me. His name is Kamau."

Namid was busy with cleaning up and while Hank took a moment to check with her, Sabretooth reached down and picked up the infant. A slight smirk formed as he scented the momentary panic from Hank before he realized that Sabretooth was holding the boy with proper support.

"Yeh - I know how t' hold a cub, McCoy. He's mine, ain't he?"

This time, Kamau received a more thorough sniffing - and a chuckle came out when Sabretooth noted Kamau's nose wrinkling in return just before he caught a flash of the boy's eyes.

"Cat eyes."

Lowering the boy back to Storm, he turned his head and called out.

"I know yer close enough t' hear me, Jimmy. Com'on in an' meet yer nephew."

Logan heard Hank's heavy sigh as he came in. Well, he was just going to have to get used to the way he and Vic did things. After all the years they'd been around, they weren't likely to change. It was something they didn't really discuss, but the two of them had seen over seven generations come and go. Their children might have a comparable lifespan, but maybe not. It was something they were taking a chance on - the possibility that they'd have to watch their own children grow old and die.

Kamau was starting to suckle for the first time as Logan moved over to get his own first look and sniff. The eyes opened again briefly.

"Blue as a Siamese cat. Nice t' see he seems t' be gettin' his looks from you, 'Ro."

He received a light swat from Storm for that, but she was smiling as she did it. As for Sabretooth, he didn't particularly care. He was currently too pleased for any needling from Logan to really register, though he did give his kid brother a pat when Logan came over to give him a light punch in the side.

"I'm headin' on back t' give Rahne an' th' rest th' news. Gonna be back soon, Hank?"

Namid moved to Storm's side, helping her and Kamau get into a better position for feeding. Hank took in the scene with a smile and nod.

"Namid and I have a wee bit more to attend to, but expect us for supper."

Sabretooth leaned down next to Storm, giving her a light nuzzle before speaking softly.

"I'll be right back, 'Ro."

He draped an arm over Logan's shoulders and headed outside with him. Logan already had an idea what was on Vic's mind and was already laughing.

"You thinkin' our doctorin' pair is gettin' a bit close, Jimmy?"

"Hell, Vic - if we hadn't all been shackin' together t' get through th' winter, they'd probably already have a bun bakin' themselves."

The two exchanged a laugh at that, but then Vic's mood turned more serious.

"Jimmy - we gotta start lookin' toward defenses soon. Can't count on stayin' unnoticed - especially not with youngsters growin' up."

"I know - I know. Plus, we really don't know who all survived out there. Some'll be for us. Likely be just as many or more against us. Dependin' on who has been talkin', there's a good chance th' whole destruction thing's been blamed on mutants by now. I'd feel better if Scott an' Emma would move their group up here with us."

"No argument, but you know how Summers feels 'bout that school. It'll take a lot t' make him let go o' that old dream an' embrace a new one. We already got a few o' th' original city batch - like Grimm. Th' rest - well, mebbe they'll come around as well. But, y'know what, lil brother? Right now, we made it through a damn hard patch. I think that's cause enough t' celebrate fer now."

Logan gave him a slap on the back along with a large grin.

"Yer right on that, Vic. Go back in there an' enjoy yer family. We got time t' put other plans in motion, but they ain't worth diddly if we don't take th' time t' appreciate what we already got."

Namid and Hank were already making their way out as he headed back in. Now away from the new mother, Hank left the doctor role behind and took on the enthusiastic role of a congratulatory friend, giving Victor a bear hug in passing. Hank also headed over to where the rest of the Pride was gathered and led them in an energetic toast to the newest member.

Back in the community home, Vic spent a moment just watching Ororo and Kamau. She felt his eyes on them and extended her free hand to him. He gave her a slight smirk and came over and took the offered hand.

"Two years back, who'da thunk it, gal?"

She laughed at that then looked back down at the golden brown infant at her breast.

"Certainly not me. It has been quite the year, hasn't it?"

He kept hold of her hand while a finger from his free hand brushed against Kamau's downy cheek.

"Hard t' think me an' you used t' be about that size, ain't it? Yeh - been a year. Had some rough moments, but by an' large, a good one. Think this year has plenty o' potential behind it as well."

"Victor? Do you think we will be able to move out of the communal home and into one of our own?"

"You want it, I can have us out by th' end o' th' week. Already have the spot picked out - Jimmy an' me already talked 'bout swappin' labor."

"I want it. So - you made a cradle for Rahne. Did you make one for me as well?"

As an answer, he released her hand and left just long enough to retrieve the cradle from where he had stored it until it was needed. Settling it at the side of her bed, then picking up the yawning cub and lowering him onto the rabbit furs lining the cradle. Then he pulled his hands free and gave the cradle a light rocking.

"You have an odd look on your face. Victor...?"

"Been a lotta years that family was just me an' Jimmy - even durin' th' years he couldn't remember me." He continued to rock the cradle slowly. The right words wouldn't come, so he altered the conversation. "So... you told me once what Ororo meant. Kamau gotta meanin' too or you just like th' way it sounds?"

"I like the way it sounds, but I mainly picked it to name him a bit after you. You told me that you did not want a son to be named Victor, so instead of naming him for your name, I named him for one of yout traits. I learned the name as a girl when I visited a zoo - one of the large cats there was named Kamau. I was told it means 'silent warrior'."

His mouth quirked a bit at that, then he noticed her yawn.

"I like it... best get out an' leave you t' get some rest now."

He started to move away, but stopped and looked back when her hand touched his arm.

"The Pride can do without you for one day."

She didn't have to ask him twice. It didn't take long for him to settle in next to her - he knew she probably wouldn't get a whole lot of rest before the cub would want either feeding or cleaning. She nestled next to him and he took a long appreciative breath. She smelled like outside - a spring rain full of new life. This one moment in time, he couldn't think of a single thing that could be better. Ororo's fingers lightly entwined in his chest hair as she fell asleep to the rumbling purr of a very contented cat.


	21. Chapter 21

**Part XXI**

Early the next morning, Sabretooth picked out five promising fishermen – including Drake – and headed with them to the river where Logan was waiting with five out of his group. Between them, they spent about an hour instructing them on various ways to catch fish, releasing fish that were too small or in their spawning season and how to string the fish to keep them alive and fresh longer until they were ready to clean them and take them back to the groups. Then they left the group to learn by doing – adding a double incentive. First, whatever it was they caught was going to be what everyone had to eat for lunch. Second? Hunters eat last.

It was that last note that got them talking among themselves (after Creed and Logan had left). It didn't take a lot of figuring though to note that their two main hunters did indeed always eat last – generally there was an excuse that they had something to finish up before settling down, but that could easily have been a ruse to keep the others from noticing. Besides, as Bobby pointed out, them occasionally having something to keep them away until meals were well underway was one thing. It happening at every single meal wasn't very likely to be coincidence. And he could see why they didn't advertise it. There were some in the group, including some of the new mothers, that tended to feel guilty about things like getting the first portions at every meal.

While the new fishers were getting down to work, Logan and Vic headed off with axes to the spot he'd picked out as his den – the back would be against a hillside with a small cave he'd seal off to use for a cool storage area. The cabin itself would be a little larger than he would normally have built – he knew about Storm's claustrophobia and didn't want her to feel anything was closing in on her. It was good timing. Rahne was ready to be inside her own walls as well, so as soon as the one cabin was finished, they'd shift locations and build the second.

As they worked alongside one another, Logan noticed that not only were both of them humming, they were both humming the same song – though once he stopped and thought about it, it wasn't a song he could recall.

"Vic? What's this we've been hummin'?"

"Huh? Just an ol' tune we learned way back. Words are 'bout a gal dressin' up like a guy t' rob her boyfriend."

"Weird thing t' write a song about. Why th' hell did she rob him?"

Vic had to stop and recall the words. After a minute, he started swinging his ax again.

"If I remember th' words right, she tried t' make him give up a ring she'd given him as a love token. When he refused, she just took his watch an' let him go. Gave him back his watch th' next day. Said she'd done it t' make sure she was fixin' t' marry a real man an' him riskin' getting' shot over that ring was her proof he wasn't no coward."

"Damn. An' here I thought some gals had put me through some hoops before. Say, Vic? How many cabins you figure we've built?"

"Hell, Jimmy – I dunno. Depends on how you count, I guess. Together, mebbe three or four before we came here. On our own? I came across a few places with yer scent over th' years. An' I left a few here an' there myself if I thought they might be t' where you or me might need 'em."

"Huh… guess that explains some o' what I'd thought had been good luck in comin' across abandoned places when I needed a place t' hole up now an' then. Why?"

"That's a dumb question, Jimmy. Yer my kid brother – I always tried t' take care o' you one way or another."

"Yeh? Well, I seem t' recall at least a time or two when you seemed like you were tryin' t' kill me. Kicked my ass at any rate."

"I seem t' recall at least a time or two when yer ass needed t' be kicked. If I saw you had yer guard down an' I knew there were folks after you, seemed only right t' get your senses back on high alert. Plus, admittedly there were a few times when I flat-out got pissed that you could forget me like I was less than nutthin' t' you."

"Fair enough. That woulda pissed me off too."

Ororo had flown in quietly during their conversation and just remained, listening to their banter. She'd had to go for so long without using her powers that she hadn't been able to resist getting out for a flight after Kamau's last feeding. She'd left him in Dorrie's capable hands – with a belly full of warm milk, he wasn't likely to be fussy for her.

She looked them over as they worked – both were shirtless, shoeless and covered with a heavy sheen of sweat. And no wonder – they had already laid out the outline of the cabin that morning. It was clear that this wasn't their first time building one just from the way they worked without calling instructions back and forth. She didn't want to interrupt them, so she waited for a lull in the conversation to come up.

"I told Storm we'd get this done in a week. Think we can make that?"

"Don't see why not. It'll be rough an' it'll need more work t' get it ready fer bad weather, but that's nutthin' you can't work on while yer livin' in it. Be lots o' little improvements you can make as you decide what you want an' where you want it."

"Know we'll need an eastern window - an' a window box."

"Yeh. She'd like that."

"Thought as much. Figure when th' time comes, me an' th' cub'll find us a new den an' leave her this one."

Logan stopped his swing and looked over at Vic.

"What th' hell kinda talk is that? You plannin' on abandonin' 'Ro?"

"Nope. But she wants more'n a mate. I told her I'd lay claim t' any cubs, but not t' her. When she finds someone she can love, she's gone. So may as well plan fer it, right?"

"Damn – that's screwed up."

"No more screwed up that our kin was, Jimmy boy. Our drunk bastard o' a Pa killed my Ma and yer Ma's husband. Now that's screwed up."

A long silence followed that.

"You've never mentioned yer Ma t' me before."

"I did. You just didn't know who I was talkin' about. Why'd you think I said Pa deserved it when you killed him?"

After that, Ororo stirred the winds to help cool them, but kept herself upwind as she flew away. She was more than a bit uneasy now about her eavesdropping, pretty sure that she overheard something she never would have heard otherwise. Lifting up higher, she continued her flight, looking over the area for any signs of trouble as she thought things over.

Her main problem? She'd never be able to unhear what she'd heard or forget it. After another moment of reflection, she flew toward the Pack's grounds. Ororo needed a sane head to help her figure this out and that meant it was time to see Hank.


	22. Chapter 22

**Part XXII**

Hank was fingering and sniffing some samples of bark and leaves that Namid had spent the morning gathering. They were all things that her grandmother had told her uses for - how much was truth and how much was folklore? Well, between them, they could start figuring that out by careful usage. He saw Namid's eyes focus above and behind him and turned to see Storm flying toward them. He had hoped that she would be taking things easier - well, perhaps he could talk a touch of sense to her. Or to Victor if that proved ineffective.

"Greetings and salutations, O Wind-Rider! Hmm... that is not a happy face. But neither is it a distressed face, so might I hope from that that Kamau is doing well?"

Storm touched down lightly, acknowledging Namid's nod with one of her own.

"Kamau is doing very well. I left him with a full, round belly in Doreen's arms. I just... need to speak with you, Hank. If Namid can spare you for a little while?"

Hank looked at her expression again and decided that this would not be the time for expressing concern over her activity level. Turning to Namid, he handed her the plants he'd been looking over with an apologetic smile.

"Please pardon me, my dear lady. The needs of friendship call me away for a space of time, but I shall return shortly and give you my undivided attention once more."

Namid just gave him a smile and a light swat that had more than a hint of affection, then went back to working with her basket. Hank blew her a kiss, then moved to take Storm's arm before starting to take a slow stroll with her.

"Alright, Ororo, my little flying gazelle. As requested, my adorable hirsute indigo self is all yours for the time being. So tell me, my dear, what troubles the mind behind that lovely, yet furrowed, brow?"

Storm didn't even crack the pretense of a smile, so he merely kept hold of her arm and continued the slow stroll to allow her time to sort out her thoughts. Even so, the silence seemed to drag on for a long time. He was just about to give her a light verbal nudge when she finally spoke.

"It really wasn't anything intentional, Hank, but I feel like... I've done something horrible and there's no way for me to take it back."

A short statement really, but not a terribly clear one and it threw him a bit as he tried to come up with a response.

"Might I trouble you for a trifle of clarification? Are we speaking here of something in the line of a moral dilemma? Or are you working your way up to asking for assistance in the disposal of a body?"

He was slightly relieved to see that bring at least a ghost of a smile to her face.

"No.. no. No bodies. It's - well, I overheard something I shouldn't have. Something I'm sure neither of them would walk up to me and tell me. And what I heard was very extreme. To the point where I can't see how I can avoid it affecting the way that I view them. I know that isn't really fair of me because what they were speaking of happened in their youth and the past should be allowed to stay in the past. But still? I can't unhear what I heard. And now, I'm at a loss as to what to do."

Hank gave a soft sigh, then patted her arm lightly.

"Let me do the talking now, my dear. Just guide me if I am on the correct track. Now, considering that Robert talking about the time he short-sheeted Scott's bed would hardly cause you any angst, I am going with the thought that you came across Logan and Victor while they were having a brotherly chat. Especially since I am aware that the two of them are off together today working on a housing project."

She gave a small nod at that and he continued on.

"Now, I have on occassion been with both Victor and Logan when they have managed to imbibe sufficient quantities of liquid refreshment to make them a touch more open than their usual non-sharing selves. Enough so that I know perhaps more than most about some vague details of their pasts. Victor is not one to lay blame for any of his own actions on his beginnings, but I definately gained the sense that neither of his parents would have been mistaken for Ozzie and Harriet. Or even Ozzy and Sharon. And the age that I was led to believe that they were out on their own would indicate that something extreme happened and it happened rather suddenly. Considering their tendancies as adults likely began during that time, I think I can also assume that deaths were involved. Not theirs, of course. But very likely a relative - or at least a caretaker since Victor took over raising his half-brother."

He paused just long enough to note the next nod.

"Now - while I am not privy to the details, they obviously bothered you on a deeper level than just realizing that the two of them are capable of killing. You were already quite well aware of that. Now comes the part where I give you sage advice that might make you doubt my sanity. I would get Victor alone as soon as possible and confess the overhearing - and discuss with him what about it has you so rattled. Because he and Logan are the only two alive that would be able to tell you the full story which may well fill-in details that change the way you are viewing what you heard."

A frown formed on Storm's face.

"I cannot say that I can see where hearing even more about it would make it any better."

"That is because you are not thinking things through logically at the moment due to your state of mind, my dear. Let's say that all you heard about me is that I walked up to a man that was just standing there and punched him square in the face. Now, take that self-same situation and add to your knowledge the fact that the man was a terrorist preparing to activate a triggering device on his body that would have caused the destruction of a building full of innocent civilians and that the sucker punch I gave him prevented him from doing that dastardly deed. Without full information, I am a bully and a jerk - with full information, I could conceivably be regarded as a hero."

When he saw that she was processing the truth of what he said, he gave her a light kiss on the forehead.

"No action truly exists in a vacuum, Ororo. Just remember that both Logan and Victor were there when whatever happened occured. There may be any number of things that went unspoken simply because there was no need to bring up something that both of them already knew. At any rate, just keep in mind that you've been dear friends with one for years and just had a delightful child by the other. A little benefit of the doubt might serve you well."

She gave him a tight hug and a smile.

"I knew there was a reason I came to you. Thank you, Hank."

A moment later and she was airborne again as Hank smiled to himself and made his way back to Namid.


	23. Chapter 23

**Part XXIII**

Neither Logan nor Sabretooth were at the building site when Ororo returned. Glancing upward, the position of the sun reminded her of the other project that the two of them were doing today. They must be at the river looking over the catch that was supposed to be today's lunch.

Shifting directions, she could tell before she even got too close that it was likely to be a rather thin fish stew. The catch was not very impressive - ten fishermen and possibly not even thirty fish between them from her count. She landed lightly just in time to hear the verdict on the morning's fishing from Logan.

"I think you got the right ideas - you just had th' wrong order. Folks tryin' t' hook fish need t' be first up with folks tryin' nets or spears further downstream. Try it that way tomorrow mornin' an' see if that helps."

Groans emerged, but no arguments. They knew better. Logan walked along with them for a bit as they headed in with the fish. Ororo reached out and touched Victor's arm. He turned toward her.

"What? You wantin' t' get over t' th' cookin' area 'fore all th' fish is gone?"

"No - I'm not concerned about food right now. Victor? I took a flight today to see where you are building. And I overheard part of your conversation with Logan."

The gruff voice behind her made her jump. Served her right for assuming Logan went all the way back with the rest.

"Yeh. We know. Had a bet as t' whether you'd pretend it never happened or if you'd fess up." A wry look was shot in Vic's direction. "Guess this means I owe you my first salmon o' th' season."

"Damn right, you do." Vic looked back down at 'Ro and gave her a shrug. "Cat thing. Curiosity's our downfall, babe. Sit down. Doubt this'll be short an' we may as well be comfortable. Call her, Jimmy."

Ororo had never been so close to Logan before when he'd let out a howl. She had to admit it was impressive. And effective. In just a couple of minutes, Rahne was running up, stopping and looking a bit puzzled at the gathering as she shifted back to human form.

"Grab a section o' grass an' sit down, Rahne. Yer family now an' if 'Ro's got questions, likely you have a few yerself. Since this ain't a topic me or Jimmy plan t' bring up any more'n we gotta, makes most sense t' talk t' you both at once. 'Sides - there's parts o' this story that Jimmy don't know himself."

Logan settled down next to Rahne, leaving Vic with the floor (so to speak). For Vic's part, he tilted his head up and studied a cloud briefly before sitting down on a good sized rock and starting to speak.

"Can't say much 'bout where Thomas Logan came from. Back in those days, coulda been from near anywhere. Always had th' impression that he was born t' a family that had money. Whether they lost it themselves or he lost it for 'em? Dunno. Don't even know that I care. Regardless, Thomas always felt like he was deprived o' th' better things in life that were his due. Life didn't see things his way an' ol' Thomas spent a lotta time in th' company o' a bottle o' booze. Just t' let you know, most o' this stuff I'm tellin' you 'bout Thomas is my opinion rather than hard facts, but considerin' th' number o' nights I had t' listen t' his drunken rantin', I think I got some basis fer my opinions. Thomas was my Pa. Always hated his damn guts an' th' feeling was mutual."

"My Ma was... odd. Even by my admittedly skewed standards. She was always scared t' death o' me as far back as I can recall. Can't really say that she hated me though. She wouldn't let Pa totally starve me an' even though she'd let him beat th' hell outta me and keep me chained, she'd get between me an' his axe every time he started t' try an' put it into my skull. Best I can figure, that's how she died. Pa didn't stop his swing one day an' buried his axe into her skull. I woke covered in blood - he told me at th' time that I was th' one that killed her. I believed him then, but looking back, I may have been covered in her blood, but my claws were clean o' flesh. Plus, quite frankly, I was still a little guy back then. I wouldn't have had th' strength t' split open her head that way."

Ororo knew she was staring at him as she was listening and trying to process the information he was putting out. She had the feeling that this might be the one and only time that he planned to tell this story. It was eerie. Not just because of the subject matter, but because of the detached way that Victor was telling it. Like he was describing a movie he'd seen or a book he'd read rather than speaking of events that he'd lived through.

"Gettin' ahead o' myself. Pa worked fer a rich family. Not a little rich - a lot. What Pa called 'old money' when he was mutterin' about 'em when he was into his cups bad. The Howlettes. He hated 'em fer havin' what he thought shoulda been th' life he was meant t' lead. Wanted their money. Wanted their lands. Most o' all, he wanted Howlette's woman. An' guess there's no accountin' for taste, 'cause he got th' woman."

A pause and an apologetic look over to Logan.

"Hate t' have t' say this, but I'm tellin' th' story, so I'm gonna tell it all. Pa was o' th' opinion that John Howlette wasn't able t' get up his equipment with a woman. Got t' where he started thinkin' o' Howlette's wife as bein' his woman. That got worse after Jimmy was born. Jimmy grew thinkin' that John was his Pa. I knew different, but didn't see no reason t' mention it. After all, I sorta liked Howlette. Gave me a toy once - got th' shit beat outta me fer takin' it, but he didn't know that'd happen, so I didn't blame him. Did get pissy with Runt on occasion 'cause I knew we had th' same Pa, but he got t' live in th' main house with plenty o' food an' such."

Vic shrugged that off.

"Was a cub myself then. Takes some growin' up fer that 'life ain't fair' lesson t' sink in. Any ways, Ma was dead by this time, so at least I was outta th' cellar. Pa needed someone t' do the work that Ma had done. Never really occurred t' me that I probably coulda killed th' miserable bastard in his sleep. Mighta saved Jimmy a lotta grief if I had. So, that was about th' status quo until one winter when Pa snapped. Don't know what set him off. He was drunk, but hell - that was sure nothin' new. Whatever caused it, he went t' th' main house with his gun, yellin' fer Elizabeth."

He stopped and looked to Logan again. Logan cleared his throat and took over.

"Elizabeth was my mother. She had one thing in common with Vic's Ma. She was odd. Never would get very close t' me. I rarely even saw her growin' up. Servants in th' house took care o' me mostly. Spent a good bit of time with my father though. If he knew I wasn't his, he never let on. But that night when ol' Thomas came up shoutin' for my mother, my father went to go see what was goin' on. I doubt my father started anything. That really wasn't in his nature. Never even saw him so much as use a whip on a horse. But I didn't see what happened. Just heard that gun go off. I was already in my night clothes - didn't change into anything else, just ran. Mother wasn't far from Thomas and they were both lookin' at where my father was layin' on th' floor. He wasn't quite dead, but he didn't last but a second or two more after I reached him."

"Thomas was sayin' somethin'. I couldn't heard him over th' roar that was inside my head - th' pressure in my body that was buildin' as I stood there smellin' my father's blood. Blood was suddenly th' only thing I could smell an' then?"

Logan lifted one hand and, with the familiar snikt, his claws came out.

"First time they ever erupted. 'Course back then, there wasn't any metal on 'em. Just bone. Hurt like hell, but there was no real conscious thinking over o' things. I just lashed out at th' one I knew had killed my father. An' I killed him. Told me who he was t' me while he was dyin'."

"My mother… well, let's just say she didn't take me killin' her lover too well. She didn't want anything t' do with me an' I ran out. I was barefoot an' still wearin' nuthin' but those nightclothes. I heard Vic comin' after me – figured he was gonna kill me for killin' Thomas. He finally had t' tackle me t' talk t' me. I started tryin' t' apologize, but he managed t' get through t' me that didn't matter t' him. Gunshot had woken up th' servants by then – took them longer t' get goin' because they got dressed for th' cold first. We heard 'em start lookin' for us. Vic just took hold o' me an' we started runnin'. An' for a long time, that's how things were – just him an' me."

He went silent then. Rahne didn't know what to say. Neither did Ororo, but she had to concede that Hank had been right. The whole of the story changed how she felt about parts of it. Finally, she spoke softly.

"I'm sorry."

That had Vic giving her one of 'those' looks again.

"What th' hell for?"

Logan chuckled and got Ororo's attention.

"I suppose now'd be a good time t' mention that Vic don't believe in cussin' at th' past. There are a lotta roads that'll take a body from where they start out t' where they end up. So long as yer agreeable with th' destination, does it really matter all that much if you took a highway or a goat path?"

"That sums it up halfway decent, lil brother. 'Sides, if my Pa hadn't been a bastard, I might not have been strong enough t' get me an' Jimmy through that first winter. Which I guess is likely th' crux o' your concerns, 'Ro. I don't plan raisin' my cubs th' way I was raised myself. I figure life will throw 'em enough crap t' toughen 'em up without me havin' to go outta my way t' do it."


	24. Chapter 24

**Part XXIV**

There really wasn't much more said after that. Rahne rose up and moved over to give Victor a kiss on the cheek. His childhood had been as bad or worse than her own and it made her feel a kinship with him. She never voiced that thought or bothered mentioning her own again. She just returned to the twins and barely took her eyes off of them for the rest of the day.

Logan and Victor went back to building the cabin and, after returning to Kamau for his next feeding, Ororo came back openly to watch them work. The talk had given her a great deal to mull over and watching them while keeping her hands busy weaving a basket that Namid had shown her how to form was as good of a setting as any for her musings.

Part of it still took her breath away. While Victor had kept his talk of his childhood fairly barebones (mercifully), there were still certain words that had practically jumped out at her. Cellar. Chains. Mental images formed of a man cruel enough to beat his own son because someone had given him a toy. She didn't need to ask to know that it had probably been the only toy in Victor's life – and that it had most likely been destroyed.

And the word starve. His words from the day he first came to her speaking of cubs returned to her. _'We both have known hunger.' _She had assumed he had been speaking of the days he was on his own, trying to keep himself and Logan fed. It had never entered her mind that his own father might have starved him. She couldn't fathom how any parent could do that to a child.

That was when the thought hit her like one of her bolts of lightning. No wonder Victor had always scoffed at Xavier's dream. How could anyone believe that humans and mutants could live together when even a parent could reject their own child for being one even as an infant? And Victor was far from the only mutant child who had faced rejection from a parent. It was an tragically common thread through many of their students during the days of the Academy. It made her wonder. Had the majority of the students actually believed in the dream or was the dream their way of clinging to the hope of gaining the acceptance of their families? A shudder ran through her. Her parents had never had to deal with what she was. How would she have reacted if they had rejected her?

Ororo took a deep breath and looked back up at the sky. She refused to go any further down that road. Charles was dead and the Academy was now a war zone. Nothing to be gained by starting to wonder over the state of things that don't even exist any more except in memory. Another thought nudged at the back of her mind. Victor might have a point. After awhile, does thinking about the past become just so much deadweight? Then she considered how many years Victor and Logan had been around. That was a lot of memories. Of course, it wasn't like they forgot. Well, not like Victor forgot them. Today had proved that he not only remembers, but he remembers with a good bit of detail. But it was almost as his memories were like books on a shelf. Dusty books perhaps, but if he really wanted to remember something, it was still there. With that mental image, she revised the way she thought about Victor's methods. He wasn't ignoring the past or forgetting the past, he just wasn't dealing or dwelling on the past unless it had some meaning for the present. Practical.

The air was very still and she stirred it again to give the men a light breeze. Then she had to laugh at herself. No wonder they'd known she was around earlier. Even though she'd remembered about her scent, she'd made the winds move in this area in a way that they wouldn't naturally. Of course the pair of them would take note of something like that. She still had much to learn to get anywhere near their level in stealth. Rising again, she gave them a final breeze before heading back to Kamau. Her body was telling her that she'd had more than enough activity for today.

In the days and weeks that followed, all of them began spreading out from the communal home except for Reed and Dorrie. The two of them made the group home into their permanent one as Reed planned to work on the shelter to make it more efficient for the next winter while Dorrie began working on digging out a cellar area for additional cold weather stores. Shaman made his next visit to them all just as summer arrived with a warning sent up from Scott. Magneto had again emerged with a new crusade. He was out now to 'save' mutantkind from, as he was phrasing it, de-evolving. And since Magneto had referenced both Wolverine and Sabretooth by name as what was to be avoided? He could prove to be a problem.

Hank frowned at that. Magneto was capable of tunnel-vision to an alarming degree and Hank doubted Erik would even pause to take note of the two men. With every week that passed, fewer of their group even used the names Wolverine and Sabretooth to refer to them. Now it was far more common for them to be called Logan and Creed. The result of that was much like what Logan had mentioned to Ororo once. The less you refer to someone by a codename, the more you can see them as an individual. Sabretooth and Wolverine were a pair of cold-blooded mercenaries skilled at any number of ways to kill. Creed and Logan were a pair of fairly naturally born leaders that had no qualms about putting themselves on the line to protect their people as well as having very deeply set notions of right and wrong that were hard to argue. Hank knew that because he had tried to argue them out with Victor before. And still did occassionally. A good debate could be as satisfying as a good meal and he had found Victor to be an adept opponent. If he could be caught in the proper mood. Generally, if a day was wet and no emergencies demanded attention, that was a good time to catch him in the proper mood.

Their last debate had started out as an 'almost' argument. Victor had laid into one of the younger members of the Pride for violating one of his rules while Hank was visiting. Hank's amusement over the situation had drawn Victor's ire in his direction after he'd sent the 'cub' off.

"What in th' hell has you so damn amused, McCoy?"

"My apologies if my levity seems inappropriate, but I couldn't help it. Just seems a bit peculiar to see you having to enforce rules when you must admit you were not precisely known as being a law-abiding citizen back in the day."

"What's law got t' do with anything? I'm tryin' t' teach right an' wrong ways t' do things."

"What else is law but an attempt to promote right over wrong?"

"Bullshit. I'd bet less'n five percent o' laws had shit t' do with that. More laws are aimed at stuff than folks."

"Not saying that you are right or wrong there, but asking for clarification, my toothy comrade. What do you mean by aimed at stuff?"

"Just saying that I've seen a few cases where a man would get into more serious trouble fer trashing another man's car than he'd get in for going home and slappin' th' hell outta his wife. An' I seem t' recall a bomb development that was designed t' kill people, but leave the property intact."

"Whether I personally care for the difference between war and peacetime morals, there are generally accepted to be harsher altercations during war, Victor."

"Okay. granted. But let me spin you a maybe situation from back before things went boom. On one side, we got a man that ain't done a damn thing his whole life except be born t' some rich jerks. He's got a place surrounded by fences, fulla fruit trees that he lets th' fruit rot on 'cause he's got more food than any ten normal folks could eat. On the other side, we got a man that's been a worker that's got no work available, no money, no place t' live an' no food. Legally speakin' - if the starvin' man went onto th' rich man's property an' did nutthin' at all destructive - just ate th' fruit that was gonna rot 'cause no-one else was gonna eat it? He could be charged with trespassin', stealin', loiterin' an' I don't know what all else. On th' other side o' th' coin, if th' rich guy sat on his balcony an' watched as th' poor guy keeled over an' died, so long as he bothers t' have onna his servants call th' authorities, what charges are goin' against him? Not one I can think of. Who made most o' th' laws? Rich folks. How many poor folks got into th' power spots in government? Be willin' t' say, pretty damn few. An' I'll grant there's th' occasional exception, but one thing that concerns most rich folks is keepin' other folks from takin' their stuff."

Victor looked around the area.

"Mebbe someday we'll get too big as a group t' behave right, but fer now? Those who can make things make 'em fer everyone else that needs 'em. Food gets shared - chores get shared. Only rules I try t' enforce are th' ones that might get someone hurt or worse it they're ignored."

"Ah, but was not the disagreement with the young man over his fishing technique?"

"Yep - but you weren't there for th' whole o' it. He wanted t' string a net that would've taken in an' killed even th' fish too small fer us t' use. Over-fish a water an' we'd be lookin' at losin' a major source o' our food down th' road. I put that in th' 'or worse' category. Not gonna allow today's convenience t' risk tomorrow's survival."

Hank gave Victor a slight bow.

"I concede to part of your point today then. Short-sightedness is indeed to be avoided and though I still disagree with your overall view of the legal system, I do have to admit to being grateful that we currently have no need here for such."

Victor had just snorted, slapped him good-naturedly on the back and herded him to take a taste of Reed's latest beverage. Odd, back in the day, he never would have thought of the man as a future brewmaster. Besides, he wanted to have a chat with Doreen. Some of the plant parts he and Namid had found to be useful were not the easiest things to harvest. At least not for them, but for a nimble squirrel? Well, it couldn't hurt to ask if Doreen thought some of her little friends could help them with that.


	25. Chapter 25

**Part XXV**

Their third summer proved to be a good one for their small gardens. Namid had them enriching the soil with their food wastes such as peels and fish bones while Hank and Reed were making composting areas for use in the coming fall. The 'meat locker' caves were proving to be low-maintenance for Bobby and looked to be a valuable addition to their stores for the coming winter. After the last one, no-one was questioning the need for well-stocked pantries.

A couple of the apprentice fishers just didn't seem to have the knack and were replaced by others, but the overall fishing had improved as much as it needed to. Victor and Logan were both very adamant that care be taken to not overfish the waters. Just enough to feed the group plus a few others to go to be dried or smoked. When the salmon season came would be when they would do their major fishing for the winter stores.

The twins were now over a year old and mobile, promising to keep the Pack busy as they began getting faster. Hank noted that, come the next year, some sort of daycare system would definately be needed. In fact, since he had already proposed to Namid, he had hopes to have offspring needing those services himself in the not-to-distant future. By fall's beginning, it was apparent that both Rahne and Dorrie were expecting again, though Dorrie wouldn't be waiting for the next year for hers to come.

Kamau was crawling and his favorite obsticle to climb was his father, who was generally quite content to serve as a speed bump after the day's work was done. To Ororo's pleasure, Victor proved to be both an attentive and patient father. As for Kamau, he was proving to be like his father in several ways. Trying to convince him to release a toy or go to bed generally provoked a growl. And the first teeth showing were proving to be very sharp. One lesson he was having to learn was not biting. Especially not the tail of his number one baby-sitter. Generally once a week, Kamau would go to stay with Dorrie and Reed for the night after his evening feeding.

Swimming in the moonlight and in the early dawn hours were activities Ororo and Victor enjoyed on those evenings. On this night, the winds had a slight chill to them as they came out of the the waters to lay on the bank. The chill wasn't really something that either of them minded though. Besides, after Ororo gave him a slight nudge, the chill wasn't noticed by either of them anymore. They didn't bother with finding the grove again. A rumble of thunder shook the air around two am.

Back at his own home, Logan growled lightly as he glanced toward the window.

"Fer pity's sake, Vic - get a room."

Rahne's giggle at his side got him to smirk a bit as he settled back down next to her.

"See? There's an advantage t' powers like ours, lady. Whole damn area don't know what we're up t' when we have some private time."

Hours later, after a final pre-dawn swim, Ororo got ready to head back for Kamau's breakfast.

"Coming back with me, Victor?"

"I'll be along later, 'Ro. There's some elk south o' here an' I'm after one t' add t' our larder. May as well get on it now an' mebbe I'll be back for lunch."

All things considered, Vic was feeling pretty damn good and didn't bother wearing more than what amounted to a loin cloth as he went off hunting, leaving his clothing over a bush at the waterside. The run was fast and almost supernaturally quiet. He didn't often take the opportunity to run like this. If he was hunting with anyone else, even Jimmy, they couldn't keep up. He occassionally wondered if Hank could, but hunting really wasn't something that Hank was interested in. Still, maybe he could talk Hank into a good hard run one day before he got too much older. It would be fun to see just how quick the big man could go and how long he could keep going.

Thoughts about Hank and everything else went out of his mind when he caught scent of his quarry. Shifting his course to keep his own scent from reaching the herd, he headed for a small rise to get a view of them. A pretty decent sized grouping of fourteen elk - a full-grown bull, six full-grown cows, three calves and four yearlings. Looking further away, he could see the larger herd that this group was a part of. Well over a hundred easy. If he didn't spook them too badly, he might be able to come back with Jimmy for additional meat and hides.

Vic pushed even that thought away and studied the animals, picking out one of the young bulls, guessing it's weight to be between four and five hundred pounds easy. Grazing must have been very good for them.

Eyes on his prize, he flexed his hands as he worked his way closer, claws lengthening as he slid into full stalking mode. For the next few minutes, he was as wild as the wildest beast in the area. The stalk, the chase, the kill. The feel of the warm blood running over his hands as he took out the throat of the bull while the rest of the herd ran. Lack of further chase had them calming down again fairly quickly - wolves, cougars and the occassional bear took their share of the elk. Being hunted was part of their life and animals putting on fat for winter avoid running off more it than necessary.

One thing he needed to do was to lighten his load which he did by gutting the carcass, taking time to make a meal out of the liver and heart. Cleaning out the intestines, stomaches, lungs and associated connective tissues lowered the weight of the bull by over a third. By the time he was finished with that, he had a bright eyed audience nearby. Coyotes. Hungry, but bright enough not to challenge him for his kill. A smirk formed and he took some more weight off of the kill by removing the legs below the knee and leaving them behind along with the entrails. May as well give the pups a good meal. No sense it going to waste, after all.

Hefting up the rest, he started back for his territory. A good hunt was satisfying in any number of ways and this hunt had been a very good one. He'd need to get to work skinning it at the cabin. Once he got back within sight of the water though, he decided that there was going to be stop before he went the rest of the way home. Hanging the elk in a tree, he looked over the gore and dust streaking his body, then moved for the water. Diving in, he swam for a moment before starting to wash the blood off of himself.

The water was cool and refreshing, but the water had it's own problems. While Victor had an extremely keen nose, swimming meant he had water dimming scents. Which is why Vic failed to catch the whiff of the newcomer to the area before something slammed into him and held him down at the bottom of the lake.


	26. Chapter 26

**Part XXVI**

It was just past lunch when Logan dropped in to talk to Vic and Ororo told him of Vic's early morning intention to go hunt elk. After a few minutes of playing with Kamau, he decided he'd pick up Vic's trail and see if he needed a hand bringing the meat home. Elk's weren't exactly the smallest prey, after all.

Heading down to the lakefront area that Ororo had said they'd been at last, Logan went along at an easy rate. At least until he got a whiff of blood. Not only elk blood, but his brother's blood as well.

Breaking out into a run, he came to a sudden stop as he saw first the hanging elk and then, on a branch not too far away, Vic hanging from his wrists which were wrapped tightly enough with chains that the metal had gone into his flesh. That wasn't the only blood on his body, but whatever the other wounds were had already closed over. His hair was dripping wet as was his loin cloth and his eyes were shut. Logan thought for a second that he might be unconscious until he saw Vic take a small, almost unnoticeable sniff. And wince.

"Ah good, perhaps you will be more co-operative than this beast has been. He's proven very stubborn about calling the other mutants in the area here."

Logan froze before he took another step toward Vic. That was one voice he'd really hoped not to hear again. Turning, looking upward. Jackass always liked to make an entrance.

"Magneto. Doubt you'll find me co-operative either, bub. What th' hell do you want here? How'd you..?"

As he had figured, Magneto was hovering just out of reach. Also as usual, he had that tone of speaking to a not-terribly bright child in his voice. Logan really hated that smug attitude of his.

"How did I get the… how do you tend to phrase that?... jump on Sabretooth? I suppose I was simply fortunate enough to come across him as he was fouling the waters here by washing blood from himself. It wasn't a difficult matter to entangle a few chains around him and drag him to the bottom until he drowned enough to go unconscious."

Logan was seeing red, but tried to force himself to stay calm. Vic had taken considerable punishment without yelling. He wasn't going to undo that just because he was pissed, but the callous way that Magneto spoke had him on the edge. Drowning was a horrible sensation and his own recent experience with that made the thought of it being deliberately done to Vic that much worse. He kept his voice down, but the tone was colder than that icy pond had been.

"You still ain't answered my other question, you old bastard. What do you want?"

"Very simple, Wolverine. I've come to return the ones you brought to this forsaken area back to civilization. Now, will you call them here or do I need to track them down on my own?"

Logan paused, looking back to Vic before tilting back his head slightly and letting out a long, undulating howl. Magneto seemed pleased, until he looked toward Sabretooth himself and noted the very faint traces of a smile on his face. Frowning, he turned and 'grabbed' hold of Wolverine by his metal to prevent him from moving.

"Wolverine – what have you done?"

Logan just gave Magneto a look that said _Figure it out yourself_ plainer than any words. The frown changed to a scowl and Logan felt himself lifted and slammed into Vic. Then other chains rose to bind him against his brother, adding his not-inconsiderable weight to the strain being put on Vic's wrists as the chains bit in deeper.

"I suppose we shall see if the two of you can make a comeback from being reduced to skeletons. A decade or two of you hanging here should answer that question. Though I doubt I'll bother to come back to check. Sure you won't reconsider returning to my employment, Sabretooth? No? Going to continue with that same stubborn silence, I see. Still, never let it be said that I didn't appreciate your past service. I'll spare you the drawn out effects of starvation."

For a moment, Logan thought Magneto meant he was going to at least let Vic go. Feeling Vic take a deep breath and tighten his muscles in anticipation ended that hope just before a metal javelin thrust completely though Vic from side to side, piercing both lungs and heart. Blood came from his mouth - Victor had bitten through his own lip to keep himself from yelling out. One long shudder, then his body went limp. The javelin wasn't pulled out, but left in place as Magneto departed without another word.

Logan went through a brief catalogue of the numerous swear words he knew in a variety of languages before he settled down again to begin to work this out. First priority was getting free. If he could work himself loose, he could pull the damn javelin out of Vic and then, if there really was a God and He was willing, Logan would get a chance to let Magneto get firsthand knowledge on how it felt to be impaled on a wooden version.

Back at the Pack and Pride areas, both groups were coming together after the danger alert that Logan had managed to get out. It had been agreed before that the original site of the colony would be the primary meeting spot in case of emergency. The children were inside the old group home with Namid keeping them calm while the others were discussing what to do next.

Bobby looked over to Rahne as he released the ice bridge that they'd used to speed up travel over the river.

"Any chance that this might be a drill?"

Rahne shook her head.

"I dinna think so. The tone was nay as calm as I would expect for a drill."

Then Hank's low tone cut through the mumblings.

"No, not a drill, dear friends. Our emergency approaches from above."

In near unison, everyone looked first to Hank, then in the direction where his eyes were focused. There was an audible intake of air as they recognized the descending form of Magneto. Most of them backed into a tighter group. A few, like Dorrie, Ororo and Bobby stood their ground. Others, like Rahne, Hank and Reed, moved protectively closer to where the children were.

Magneto spread his arms as if he were about to deliver a benediction.

"Good news to you all. I have come bring you out of this wilderness and return you to civilization."

With that beginning, he continued on, speaking of bringing together all of the mutants left in the world under the banner of Genosha and of the paradise it offered them all. He either didn't notice or ignored the quiet exchanges between individuals in the crowd. As he came to the end of his speech, Magneto lowered himself majestically. As he did, Dorrie moved closer. Across the way, Reed stiffened and paid careful attention. He considered Magneto was worse than dangerous. He considered him to be insane.

Magneto looked down at the young mutant woman and gave a slight smile as his eyes traveled down to where her hands rested atop a very tell-tale swelling.

"Yes, my child? Do you have a question?"

"Oh no, sir. You were very clear. And I'm very grateful for your offer, but no thank you."

The smile faltered as he expression shifted to one of someone who could not quite comprehend what they were hearing.

"Pardon?"

Bobby stepped up behind Dorrie and laid his hands on her shoulders protectively.

"The lady said thanks, but no thanks. So do I."

Magneto's eyes began to take on a cold edge.

"I don't believe you actually realize exactly what you are considering turning down."

Kitty stepped up next.

"They know. I know. We all know. But for one, I am not buying into your benevolent messiah act. If anyone here genuinely wants to go with you, they certainly can, but if you intend to force the issue, there will be a fight."

All during this, Hank had been watching. Listening. No signs. That was a bad sign. He cleared his throat and nearly all of the Pack and Pride turned their heads toward him. His focus was fixed on Magneto.

"Where are they?"

Magneto turned to meet Hank's eyes. A shudder went through Hank and he knew the answer before Magneto spoke.

"They are no longer an issue."


	27. Chapter 27

**Part XXVII**

The clouds grew darker almost immediately and a low growl of thunder was heard. That only partially surprised Magneto. While he remembered well Storm's hatred of Sabretooth, he did have to acknowledge that she seemed fond of Wolverine for reasons he couldn't quite fathom. Likely something to do with not being given a puppy as a child.

What happened next was so sudden and, quite frankly, so unexpected that no-one was prepared for it. Dorrie stepped up, her dark eyes snapping while her right knuckle claw popped as she moved with one fast, precise swing, cutting Magneto's left cheek like a dueling scar from a fencing foil. Shocked, Magneto's hand rose unbelievingly to touch the blood.

"You wicked, evil, horrid man! How **dare** you?"

Reed's elastic arms whipped out and wrapped around Dorrie, pulling her back to him as Magneto's eyes began to blaze with fury. Ben quickly moved his bulk between his old partner and Magneto. Not that any of this quieted Dorrie in the least.

"What was your problem with them? That you offer a lot of words, but they were successful? That they're your rivals?"

Magneto openly scoffed at that.

"Rivals? Those beasts? Child, you give them far too much credit for intelligence."

"You give them far too little."

A rumble of thunder underscored Ororo's words. Magneto steeled himself to not look up toward the now-black clouds.

"Have you forgotten I once made use of one of them? I believe I am well acquainted with his limited capabilities."

Hank couldn't let that one pass unremarked.

"I doubt that, Erik. I doubt you know anything more about Victor Creed than he felt inclined to reveal. And with your attitude toward him, I doubt he felt inclined to admit much of anything to you. So what is this? Is this your new and improved version of genocide, Erik? Humans are currently so scattered that you feel you have the leisure time to travel around? Parade through the lands making judgments on how and where the rest of us should live? **If** the rest of us should live at all? What we are allowed think? What we are permitted to say? If that is a glimpse of what you call Paradise, then I will gladly choose Hell."

Ben's gravelly voice spoke up next.

"I don't know what line of crap you made up in your mind, Lehnsherr, but ain't a soul here that didn't choose to be here. Colony today ain't a smaller group than the initial one, it's larger. I wasn't in with the first set of folks, I came along later along with about half of these folks. This may not be the way you'd choose to live, but it's the way **we** chose to live."

Lightning was now making lacework patterns against the black sky and Ororo's eyes were glowing white.

"Who made the first attack?"

Silence was her only answer, though Hank though he spotted a hesitation possibly borne of ill-ease in Magneto's expression. Then the thunder boomed at a nearly deafening level.

"I am not requesting an answer – I am **demanding** one."

Such a vibrant spirit in the woman. He was glad to see it wasn't dimmed. Storm had been one of the main reasons he had come here. He fully intended that she would be his queen but currently? None of this was going even in part as Magneto had envisioned it. He lifted slightly off of the ground, then a bolt of lightning struck close enough to make his hairs stand on end. The scorched earth smoked as Ororo scowled at him.

"That was a deliberate miss. I shall not miss again. **Where** is my husband?"

So many unexpected things had hit him, but that was an unexpected blow. He considered a mentality like Wolverine's far beneath her and it showed in his tone.

"You've married Wolverine?"

"No."

Oddly enough, that one word did more to Magneto than anything else combined had. His skin tone went ashen and Hank seriously wondered for a moment if he was about to be dealing with a case of cardiac arrest as Magneto settled heavily back down.

"You can **not **be serious."

Dorrie's voice was back to her normal tone.

"We are all very serious. You haven't spoken to him in a couple of years or more, have you? Not meaning to belittle your ideas, sir? But the world has changed an enormous amount in a very short period of time and your ideas don't seem to have changed at all. That really doesn't sound like it makes a great deal of sense."

Dorrie's attention was suddenly drawn downward by a trio of squirrels circling her feet. Reaching down to pick one of them up, she exchanged a round of quick-fire squirrel chatter before looking intently over to Hank. Hank fortunately got the message and offered a hand to her, which she took after transferring the one squirrel to her shoulder.

"Ororo, if you and the others would keep our 'guest' entertained, we shall return in short order. Ben? Reed? Kitty?"

The three requested followed along after Hank and Dorrie as the two squirrels on the ground quickly ran ahead to lead the way.


	28. Chapter 28

**Part XXVIII**

Logan was getting nowhere fast in trying to free himself. In fact, Vic's body going slack had made things worse for him as the chain had shifted to the point that he was being half-strangled by it. The temptation to try and call out for assistance was bitten back – if they were fighting with Magneto, the last thing they needed was to have their attention divided.

The sky going dark, the lightning and thunder were enough to convince him he'd done the right thing. Magneto may have found them, but he didn't find them with their guard down. He truly and sincerely hoped 'Ro fried Bucket-head's shorts.

He hadn't realized that he'd blacked out for awhile until he came to again and heard Kitty's voice.

"Reed can get me high enough, Ben. You just be ready to catch."

Next thing he knew, the chain seemed to have disappeared and he was falling. Actually, they had only gone intangible at Kitty's touch, but that was pretty much the same thing. It was debatable whether or not being caught by the walking rock pile was preferable to simply hitting the ground. Not that he was inclined to complain. Though, being Logan, he had to say something. If he hadn't, Kitty would think he was worse off than he was.

"I think this is th' first time I ever thought you looked beautiful, Grimm."

"Can I help it if you never looked at me right before, Squirt?"

The banter didn't last though – Vic's body was still hanging.

"Come over here fer a minute, guys – I need t' have a word with you 'fore we get Vic down."

His throat was still sore and he gratefully accepted Dorrie's small water canteen for a drink before continuing.

"Once Vic's down, we need t' get him t' a spot where it's just him an' me until he wakes up. Bucket-head caught Vic in th' water an' drowned him. Between that an' the javelin, he's unlikely t' wake up well. Might take a few minutes or a few hours for him t' come back t' himself. I know when he did it for me, he made sure he sent Bobby off before I came to. An' sure enough, I ran Vic all th' way through before I had any idea what I was doin'. I'll survive whatever he throws at me, but no sense puttin' anyone else at risk."

Hank ran a hand through the fur on his head as he considered options.

"Does the location need to be one that would inhibit Victor escaping should his instincts be set on the flight option instead of fight?"

"Yeh – but no restraints. That'd just be it worse all o' th' way around. Especially with this chain shit bein' one o' his last memories."

Ben spoke up again.

"How 'bout our old original stores house? We were gonna be tearing it down anyway, so if something gets broke it won't matter a bit."

That was agreed on and Reed helped Kitty up again while Ben stood by for catching again. At the other tree, Dorrie and the squirrels were busy getting the elk down.

Catching Victor was made trickier by both his overall size and the javelin, but Ben managed to get the body to the ground well enough. As soon as Logan pulled the javelin free, Hank gathered Victor up and headed for the stores house. Logan tossed down the javelin and followed, complaining, in his wake.

"I have but two things to say to you, my slightly diminutive colleague. One, I am both stronger and faster than you. Two, you are wasting breath that would be better employed in keeping up."

To punctuate his point, Hank sped up – leaving Logan momentarily both in his dust and cursing.

Ben took up the task of lugging the elk back to the common area. Considering how mucked up the day's usual flow was now, it looked like this particular elk was going to be the main meal of the day for everyone. Kitty stayed by Ben's side, but kept looking back. Dorrie and Reed were hanging back and talking. She was too far away to make out expression let alone try to read lips, so this was one of those times that Kitty wished she could borrow Logan's hearing for a few minutes.

Back at the common area, Magneto found himself in an odd position. While not imprisoned or even bound in any way, Storm's ever-present lightning was making it abundantly clear that he was not free to leave and there seemed to be a number of others that were also prepared to help detain him if necessary. He was also, although watched, mostly being ignored. If he spoke, someone might look his way briefly, but no-one was speaking to him or even about him. Definitely not a feeling he was accustomed to.

Ben's arrival with the elk heralded a flurry of activity for him to watch, so Magneto took the opportunity to sit down. As with everything else, eyes glanced his way, then their owners went back to what they were doing. The carcass was skinned, the head removed and the meat itself dressed for roasting as others were busy getting cooking fires ready. All of this was done with practiced ease gained over two years of necessity. One thing they all knew was that Creed and Logan would very likely be needing a protein boost in the very near future.

Kitty looked back and noted that Dorrie and Reed were still not caught up to them. Worried, she called for Namid and gave her a quick fill-in. As Kitty came back out, Magneto saw what had been protectively hidden before. The children.

When Kitty came back into his sight, she was holding two children and other women of the group were moving over to the building to collect their own. The number of children surprised Magneto, but one in particular caught his eye. A darker skinned child brought out by a native American woman that was carried over to Storm. The storm clouds grew no lighter and the rumbles of thunder and lightning continued unabated as Storm took the child into her arms. The child was not in the least bothered by it. In fact, he reached his hands up as if he could catch the lightning himself while laughing. He was distracted from that though when Storm offered him a breast.

It was a mental image Magneto had occassionally imagined, but the reality of it struck him. A mutant woman - not hiding her nature with her child in her arms. A child who was bound to be growing up with considering mutant abilities to be a natural part of life. And not just one child. He hadn't counted, but there were easily over a dozen children. That caused him to take a better look around him - even as Iceman came by and offered him a warm fruit drink. He hesitated before tasting it - he could smell the alcohol, but it didn't seem strong enough that they were trying to get him drunk. The chill air made up his mind and he took a sip. Enough alcohol to cause a pleasant warmness, but no more.

The area was not as well lived-in looking as would be normal for this many people. Not enough visable living space either. Seems he didn't find their actual camp after all - this must be some sort of meeting area. Sipping again, his mind went back to that howl Wolverine gave as his eyes moved over Wolfsbane playing with what were obviously a pair of twins. Well, if nothing else, he likely had a good idea now of what that howl had been about. They'd surrounded their children to protect them. The thought that he was considered a threat that children, mutant children, needed to be protected from? That bothered him a great deal.

His attention went next to the native American woman, who was in the process of settling Squrirel Girl and Richards down near one of the fires. Shadowcat moved over and handed one of the two children with her over to Richards before moving over to the Thing. Magneto's eyes remained on Squirrel Girl though as he touched the mark on his cheek again. It is indeed a new world - and, at least with this group, he was going to have to rethink all of his assumptions.


	29. Chapter 29

**Part XXIX**

With almost anyone else, Logan would already have been past the limits of his patience. But this was Hank and one heavy factor in his favor was the fact that Vic liked him. That did make him more inclined to view Hank's insistence on staying a bit more positively, but not by much. The first couple of hours finally led to a relaxing of tensions.

It was shortly into the third hour that Victor's body jerked and then began to spasm. Hank moved over to help hold Victor in the best position he could manage as he began coughing out chunks of coagulated blood as well as the remains of the muddy water from his lungs. Hank hoped to heaven never to hear anyone that sounded more miserable than the blonde man did as his body fought itself between wanting to expel the foreign matter and wanting to take in air. It struck Hank as a touch odd, but the sound of Logan's voice seemed to be making things worse, so he took the chance of arousing Logan's anger.

"Logan, I fear all of this is going to exhaust Victor. I've got a good hold on him to help him get this up and out, so do you think you could head back to bring back some food and clothing? I know how the two of you are about the others seeing you in this sort of condition."

Logan was torn and it showed in his expression. Hank sympathized.

"Logan, old friend... no-one will get to Victor without getting through me and I have the medical experience to try and get him through this as quickly as his body will allow. But we both know that healing factor demands protein in copious amounts."

A deep breath as Logan ran a hand through his hair, then he nodded.

"Yer right... yer right. I'll be back soon."

Hank knew he had guessed correctly when he felt Victor's body relax slightly when Logan exited.

"While I will concede that the two of you find plenty of good uses for your stubborn streaks, I occasionally think you take it too far, my fangy friend."

He shifted Victor again and then sighed, rubbing him on the back as another round of spasms took him. Hank really couldn't bring himself to scold the man when he was in the process of coughing out his lungs. It seemed a long time before the convultions ended and Victor was finally able to take a deep breath.

Now that the worst seemed to be over, Hank picked Victor up again and moved him to a cleaner area while giving a glance around. The old storage area wasn't used for much of anything anymore, but there was still some cloth scraps and a couple of containers of stored water. Stale, but he was mostly after some water for cleaning. He opened up one of the small water kegs and looked back to find Victor's eyes following him. The eyes were bright, but did not seem to have the usual intelligence behind them. Just as well he hadn't continued his earlier scolding. Victor really wasn't back enough yet to understand it. While he wasn't quite sure why Victor was more comfortable with him than Logan in this state, he decided that now was not the time to look a gift horse in the mouth. After all, even when he wasn't at full power, Victor could be quite the handful if he took it into his head to stop being cooperative.

"We've done splendidly so far, Victor. Now - will you let me clean you up a bit without a fuss?"

The eyes might not have had the normal intellect behind them, but there was a definate spark of animal cunning. When Hank got close enough, the water keg was snatched and, stale or not, some of the water lapped up. Hank really couldn't blame him. The after-taste Victor was bound to have in his mouth had to be highly disagreeable. He decided to leave that keg as it was and went to open a second to use for cleaning.

A light growl emerged as Hank started mopping off the dried blood, but he continued as the tone seemed to be more in the line of 'hey, this is unpleasant' rather than 'hey, if you don't stop, I'll take your arm off'. Fortunately, he read the growl correctly. He was just really hoping that once Victor got some food in him that his mind's healing would catch up with the rest of his body.

Arriving at the old camp didn't take Logan more than two minutes, but, as Hank had known would happen, he couldn't exactly just grab what was needed and head back. For one thing, his pups were not going to be ignored or his mate either. For another, seeing Magneto sitting on the sidelines eating rather took him off-guard as well. After a couple of minutes of staring, he stopped by to have a couple of words with Ororo before leaving a request with Kitty about what he needed food-wise, trusting that she would get it ready while he grabbed something for Vic to wear.

Despite being antsy to get back, Rahne managed to coax him to sit long enough to grab a few bites of food while she took the clothes from him and put them into a sack. By the time he'd polished off the food, Kitty was standing by with another sack. Grabbing both, he promised to be back soon and headed back.

When he reentered, he backed again as Vic glowered and growled at him. Puzzled, Logan looked over to Hank who gave him a shrug.

"Your guess is as good as mine, mein freunde - but if I were to guess, I would say that there is something in your scent that he is viewing as aggressive. Anything back at the homefront that set you on edge?"

"Yeh... Bucket-head's there. Just sittin' an' eatin' like he just wandered in fer dinner. Gimme a minute."

Passing the twin sacks over to Hank, Logan retreated to a far corner and sat down. Closing his eyes, he took deep cleansing breaths and began to meditate. Across the room, the intense cat eyes watched him until Hank distracted him by offering a skin of still warm goat's milk. While the milk was being drank greedily, Hank pulled out the meat. By the time Victor started in on the meat, he was no longer paying any attention to Logan at all. Hank just shook his head, amused.

"Score one for the zen masters of old. Mellow spirits seem to soothe the savage beast as well as music does the savage breast."

The meat didn't take long to disappear and was followed by a bit more of the water. Then came a promising noise. Victor gave a large yawn as his body started shutting him down for further healing. It was definately a sign that Logan's meditations had done the trick. Victor would have fought going to sleep if he felt there was a threat still in the same room. Logan remained quietly seated until the regular breathing told him his brother was soundly asleep.

"You come up with th' damndest sayin's, Hank."

"I do but humbly repeat some of the wisdom of the bards of years past with a touch of my own inspiration tossed in now and again."

That got a soft snort.

"One day, you'll come up with a short answer."

"And on that day, I fear you will all jump me and accuse me of taking the place of the real Hank McCoy. Once the confusion clears, I shall razz you endlessly about the incident. Still, it will give me a story with which to amuse our grandchildren on summer evenings."

"So... any idea why Bucket-head is still there in any form other than a pile o' smolderin' ash?"

"Partly my doing - partly the doing of our beloved tree-rodent."

"Dorrie? Don't tell me..."

"You know her, compadre'. When Erik told us without details that he had taken care of you both, Doreen walked right up to Magneto and before any of us knew what was going on, she slashed his cheek. Umm, the facial cheek not the below waist variety. Reed pulled his dear bride out of harm's way before Erik recovered his senses enough to do anything her direction. After that, everything that was said seemed to rattle him more and more until Doreen's squirrel friends came back reporting that they had found the pair of you. I asked Ororo and the others to keep Erik entertained while I went with Doreen, Reed, Ben and Kitty to attend to you and Victor. And well, after that, you know more about what is currently going on at camp than I do."

"So basically, you all got him offbalance so much that he lost his momentum?"

"No pun to Doreen intended, but yes, that is the situation in a nutshell."

A rumble of thunder echoed briefly.

"Weather is still unsettled, I hear."

"Will be until 'Ro gets t' see Vic with her own eyes. Be one thing if she decides Vic ain't her type. She sure th' hell ain't gonna put up with anyone else makin' that decision."

The way that was phrased puzzled Hank a bit, but he decided not to question it. It did make him wonder slightly if Ororo didn't see her pairing with Victor as the complimentary partnership that he saw it being.


	30. Chapter 30

**Part XXX**

Events of the day plus being in a warm, quiet place filled with only the sound of Victor's heavy breathing unknowingly lulled both Hank and Logan into a nap. Though neither of them knew what did it at first, they startled awake in unison, looked at each other, then looked over to where Victor was sleeping. Or, more accurately, where Victor **had** been sleeping. There wasn't a place for even a housecat to hide, so it was painfully obvious they were alone.

Hank released a brief torrent of words that brought a faint trace of a smile to Logan's face even under the circumstances.

"Cussin' in Yiddish is still cussin', y'know. Damn… how'd he get by both o' us?"

"Sometimes the phrase '_oh golly gosh darn_' is simply not emphatic enough to sufficiently express the emotions of the moment. And as to your question? Oh puh-lease. Let's not be silly. Victor could sneak past a wide-awake guard dog in broad daylight if he put his mind to it."

"Yeh, yeh – just like I could. Stupid question. Let's just get movin' an' find him 'fore he finds somethin' or somethin' finds him."

Stepping outside, they could judge about how long their nap had been. Only an hour or so of daylight left – that gave Victor plenty of time as a head start. Logan tested the air and headed off, Hank right on his heels. The trail wasn't a hard one to track. Victor was making a beeline back to the lake.

And that's exactly where they found him, dripping wet and in the process of getting re-dressed in the clothes he'd left in the bushes. As they came into the clearing area, his head turned and both drew in a sigh of relief. There was recognition back in those eyes again.

"Remind me t' never ask either o' you yahoos t' baby-sit Kamau. He'd be halfway up a mountain 'fore you'd notice."

"I cannot say that we weren't asking for that, but may I say that it is good to have you fully back again regardless of the heaps of sarcasm you bring along with your other sterling traits."

"Cry me a river, McCoy – but first? How's about onna you spell out t' me what th' hell happened? Can't say I recall anything past getting' my elk here 'fore stoppin' t' clean up a bit."

Moving over to the tree where the elk had been, he frowned, then he took a deep breath.

"Blood tang – elk an' me both. Jimmy, Hank, Dorrie, Ben, Kitty-kat, Richards… Mags?"

Head turning to look up at the stormy sky, a growl underscoring his words.

"Magneto. Everyone alright?"

"Everyone else is fine, Vic. Only ones Bucket-head was out t' get rid o' was you an' me."

"At least in this initial sweep. It is, after all, only a short jump from deciding feral spirited mutants are disposable to deciding that any feral tendencies appearing in mutants are equally poor genetic choices. That would have yours truly, Doreen and Rahne quickly joining the ranks among others."

"He long gone?"

"Nope. Least he was still there when I went t' camp t' get you some grub."

"Fine. Need t' have a few words with that old hater."

Victor set a quick pace back to the common grounds, but he didn't run. Last thing he wanted to do was come across Magneto when he was already out of breath. Ororo's first hint of what was going on was when she felt Kamau reach his arms over her shoulder and squeal out '_da-da'. _That got everyone's attention as Vic strode over and took the squirming infant from Ororo. Her eyes regained their usual blue hue as the child gave a delighted laugh.

"That's my cub. You been takin' care o' yer mama, Kamau?"

Then his eyes moved over to where Magneto was still sitting. Easily shifting his son into a better carrying position, Victor moved over toward the now wary man. No coordination with words took place behind him, but Ororo moved up to take her accustomed place by his side while Logan and Hank stayed slightly back, flanking him. There was no question where the full attention of the rest of the group was now focused. Magneto bit his tongue. He had already made a resolution to himself to do more listening than talking for the time being.

Victor settled down into a crouching position to get down to Magneto's level. A faint smirk formed on Victor's face as he studied the now-crusted blood mark on Magneto's cheek. Then he began to speak in fluent German.

"_Let's get down to brass tacks, Lehnsherr. You aren't a member of my fan club. Big deal. I'm not a member of yours either. But we're going to have to come to terms here because I'm not going to be having my people ducking or looking over their shoulders because of a purple boogeyman."_

Magneto had been stopped cold from the moment the first word of German left Sabretooth's mouth. A long pause, then he responded in German himself. He noted that while Storm looked a touch annoyed, both Beast and Wolverine seemed to follow the conversation perfectly.

"_I never knew that you spoke German, Sabretooth."_

"_You never asked."_

All eyes turned briefly to Hank as he broke out into the snickers at that exchange. He remembered back when Kurt had told him that he'd learned that the Wolverine had another name while the two of them were traveling in Canada. When he'd asked Logan why he'd never mentioned his name to them before, he had given the exact same answer: 'you never asked'. Brothers indeed.

Gaining control of his mirth, Hank continued on in German to keep with the spirit of things.

"_I do believe I mentioned something to the effect that you likely know far less about Herr Creed than you think you do."_

"_Yes, you did. And I believe that I, to use one of your American terms, blew you off. My apologies. You know more about what you were talking about than I do._

Magneto gave another glance to Storm, then dropped into English.

"And so, Sabretooth, where do you propose we go from here?"

"What I propose ain't likely anything you'll go for, but here it is. Winter with us. That is, if you can trust yer little followers you have tucked away somewhere to avoid killing each other while your away. Be a good test for you any way. Time marches on, Lehnsherr. You ain't getting' any younger. Will what yer tryin' t' build outlive you or beat you t' th' grave?"


	31. Chapter 31

**Part XXXI**

It took a few beats for Magneto to realize that the suggestion he remain there for the winter was not only serious, but that Sabretooth was waiting on his answer. It slightly irritated him that his hesitation seemed to be a cause for amusement. Then Hank chimed in.

"Consider it a vacation. Or more to the facts, a busman's holiday. After all, we aren't running a resort here and, if you remain, you would be pulling your share of the workload."

"And should I decline?"

Victor gave an unconcerned shrug.

"Then you go away an' you stay away. This is th' first an' only overture. Turn it down an' if you come back? I'll assume it's with hostile intent an' we won't play nice."

"Sounds as if my decision will be rather final."

Ororo's cool voice added to the mix. Cool enough to make Bobby feel the temperature drop.

"Seems like more than you should have any right to expect after coming here as an assassin."

Part of Magneto wanted to argue the use of the word assassin, but he couldn't truthfully think of any reason that word didn't apply. He had not stumbled across this group accidentally – he had come looking for them. And he had had every intention of permanently dealing with the Wolverine and Sabretooth - in fact, nearly anyone else would have been dealt with. A hard-to-kill pair. So again, he bit his tongue. Like it or not, the word assassin was appropriate.

"Touché. I do hesitate about leaving my people behind for so long. Not because I believe they would in fight. Would this colony survive without you?"

"Yep. Mebbe have a rough patch, but yeh. They'd do better'n survive. They'd adjust, adapt an' continue on. And I'm pretty damn proud o' that fact. If you can't trust yer folks outta yer sight for a couple o' months, sounds like they need more babysittin' than leadin'. Only ones o' our crew that need babysittin' are th' babies."

Magneto was being baited. It was obvious from both the tone of Sabretooth's voice and the undeniable look of pure mischief in his eyes. Odd – those eyes weren't the same color that he remembered them being. His memory was telling him that those eyes should be dark – nearly black really. These eyes studying him were paler and, while he had always credited Sabretooth with animal cunning, there was far more than that behind these eyes now. The question that rose up might not have been the wisest to ask, but he asked anyway.

"You changed. What happened to you?"

Sabretooth seemed bemused, then momentarily distracted as his son claimed a handful of his hair. He gave a light growl to the child and was rewarded by a returned growl and a hair tug. Then he exchanged at look with Storm for a second before looking back to Magneto.

"Wouldn't so much say that I changed. But I got better."

He didn't see any need to explain things to Magneto any further than that. Most of it was in the realm of none of his damn business.

Magneto mulled over that answer and looked over the assembled group again. There were intellects here that he had always admired, even if he had not always been in agreement with them. There were some here that he respected, again, albeit occasionally grudgingly. This was not a rag-tag group that had been stranded by fate against their wills. These were individuals that had made a conscious decision. He made one himself as he stood.

"For the winter then."

A slightly wry expression formed.

"I suppose I should have brought a change of clothing with me."


	32. Chapter 32

**Part XXXII**

It didn't take long to finalize Magneto's stay. He simply had to contact the mutants flying the plane that had brought him most of the way there and give them the news to take back that he was staying until Spring. He also sent along a brief list of things he expected to see accomplished when he returned, then hoped for the best.

There was never any doubt which group Magneto was going to be living with. As Logan summed it up: "You asked him - you put up with him. 'Sides, Dorrie'll keep him in line."

That comment made more sense to Magneto once he actually traveled over to the Pride's territory and was given a spot of his own in the communal home. At the current time, the only other permanent residents were Richards, Squirrel Girl and their infant son. He was warned that the amount of room would be changing very radically in the very near future as winter came and everyone else moved back into the building. It had been expanded some over the warmer months, but not greatly - after all, the larger it became, the harder to keep the heat in. Even with just the four of them, it was taking him some getting used to. Especially due to the near constant traffic of squirrels.

Namid was of the opinion that Doreen not feeling well was due to her climbing during her pregnancy. Her rapidly growing child was constantly shifting her center of balance, so Namid had suggested that all climbing activities be severely curtailed for the duration. As such, the squirrels were pitching in to help gather a store of nuts to help see Dorrie through the winter. Reed had even made a small entrance for their use that would be easy to reseal once the weather turned bad. Even so, their constant comings and goings were distracting, to say the least. Still, he began to get used to them being around even if he couldn't quite get to the point of ignoring them.

It actually took him a bit over a week before he suddenly noticed that he had acquired a 'squirrel shadow'. While most squirrels tended to look the same to him, the one he began to notice was, as well as he could tell, a young one with a glossy deep red coat. Once he noticed that one, it began to dawn on him that it was always nearby. Even if he didn't immediately spot it, just a minute of careful looking would let him locate that particular squirrel. After two days of confirming to his own satisfaction that it wasn't a coincidence, he decided to confront Squirrel Girl about it. He couldn't help but notice that her girth had visibly grown in just that week.

She didn't deny it or seem to consider that it was the slightest bit odd to be having a squirrel following him around.

"Cherry? Oh yes, she was nice enough to agree to keep an eye on you for me since she's too young to have a litter this fall."

"Why?"

"Because Namid said I shouldn't be climbing trees right now."

"No, no - not why aren't **you** doing it. Why is anyone having to keep an eye on me? Am I considered a security risk?"

That got a light cheerful laugh. That was another thing about her that Magneto had yet to figure out. This same woman-child that had stood up to him and slashed his cheek now acted as comfortable with him as if nothing had ever occured.

"Oh, not at all. It's for safety. You don't know your way around yet. I've never had the problem myself, but I'm told that to most people, all trees kind of look the same. Plus, how are you at translating roars? I'd be willing to guess, not so hot. Until you figure them out, Cherry can let us know where you are in case of emergency."

Magneto openly scoffed at the idea of having a squirrel bodyguard, but decided that it really wasn't a fight worth having. It wasn't as if the squirrel even got within reach of him, so he could hardly say she interfered with his day at all. He even found that, to his own annoyance, that he was starting to talk to her while walking. He was even beginning to imagine that she was understanding at least some of what he was saying - which he considered more of a sign of his current isolation than the intelligence of the squirrel. He had really had no inkling of how much time he usually spent gathering and going over the news from around what was left of the world.

Nights were markedly colder in just that week's time, but days were still pleasant enough so he decided to fill-in some of his time by looking around the area. Despite Squirrel Girl's concerns, he wasn't in the least concerned about getting lost. After all, his powers pretty basically made him into a living compass, so he considered that losing his way was highly unlikely. For the most part, he was wearing the same clothing he came in wearing with the exception of leaving his helmet behind. There were no mental talents of any note here, so comfort had trumped caution. Which meant it actually stung a bit when he was pelted with a green pinecone from above.

Frowning, Magneto rubbed the spot it hit. Seemed too hard of a hit for it to have just casually fallen, so he looked up and noted a very agitated Cherry chittering hard at him. Her tail was rather like a bottle brush, but he couldn't see anything that she could possibly be that excited by. Still, her obvious unease made him feel uneasy. Then she got even louder and shriller. He looked ahead again and still saw nothing, but withdrew back a few steps the way he had come. Then he heard a roar - almost immediately afterward, a howl. Then to his puzzlement, at least a half-dozen squirrels came into the surrounding trees immediately before both Sabretooth and Wolverine came at a run, both obviously braced for a fight. Equally obviously, not looking to fight with him. Wolverine's eyes were in constant movement as he spoke.

"Which direction were you headin' while you were walkin'?"

Still mystified by all of the acitivity, Magneto started to point the direction out when a noise caused all of them to jerk around toward it. Even though he'd never heard it before, Magneto realized what it had to have been. The squeal of a dying squirrel. He immediately looked around and found himself relieved when he spotted Cherry still up on the branches above him.

Both ferals were now fully clawed and snarling as Iceman slid up to join them. Strange as the scene already was, it grew just a bit more surreal as Sabretooth yelled an order to fall back behind them to the squirrels. Stranger yet? They obeyed him. A moment later, Iceman followed Wolverine's directions and threw up a hard freeze in the direction of the trees that Magneto had been approaching earlier - the same direction the death cry had come from. As the area frosted over, a sound rang out like nothing Magneto had ever heard before. Then, to his shock, a spider about the size of a full grown sheep fell down from the trees - out of a web now only visible from being iced over. The body thudded to the ground and Iceman took a moment to freeze it even harder before Wolverine came up on it and made use of his claws to make doubly sure it was dead. While those two were doing that, Sabretooth was examining the web.

"No egg sac. Didn't think there would be since that one wasn't but half-grown. Still, we got t' thin these things out. This is too damn close t' home."

"Half-grown? I suppose it would be stupid to ask if you've encountered these things before."

Wolverine was in the process of cleaning goo from his claws as Iceman headed into the bushes under the webbed tree.

"Naw - not that stupid. Actually, th' only one o' us t' run into onna these things before is Vic. Damn... Dorrie's gona be upset. Wonder who we lost?"

Magneto wondered briefly if that young woman named all of the squirrels - he also decided that would be too stupid of a question to voice. Iceman came back out of the bushes.

"Not much left of the squirrel. I buried it back there."

Sabretooth came back over as well.

"Didn't think there would be. Acid's pretty potent in these things. Com'on, folks, let's head back home. Gettin' late."


	33. Chapter 33

**Part XXXIII**

As predicted, Dorrie took news of the death hard. The squirrel turned out to be one named Skipper and she mourned him as most would the death of a close friend. Magneto noted that her mourning period, while intense, was short. While he was unsure about asking Richards about her, he eventually decided to, though he made sure it was when she was nowhere near.

Reed didn't stop working on his current project (a refinement of his 'still') at the questions, though a smile did form.

"It almost sounds as if you're disappointed that Dorrie isn't still taking swings at you, Erik. But believe me, if you do anything that gets her riled up again, you'll see that side flare up again. But to the best of my observations, Dorrie doesn't hold grudges and also seems constitutionally unable to stay maudlin for very long. She and Victor have that in common – I suppose it is part of the feral side of their mutancy. In common being their tendencies to be very much in the moment and not dwell overmuch on the past. They aren't forgetful, they just don't tend to think back unless someone or something is triggering that behavior."

After a brief pause, Reed gave an almost silent sigh, then went on to answer the unasked questions.

"We all lost… a lot when the terrorists struck. While I was among the first volunteers to come here, it wasn't actually because I wanted to live here really. It was that I didn't want to live there. With the memories. The ghosts. I suppose that I brought the ghosts with me though. I kept to myself. Made myself useful here and there, but I didn't really socialize. Not even with Ben when he made the trip himself about six months later. Then one day at mealtime, Doreen came and sat next to me. I didn't know her personally, but I knew of her – through Ben. She'd helped him during a fight once and since then, he'd felt sort of big brotherly toward her."

"She just started talking. Running commentary on the day, things she'd seen, things she thought might be of passing interest to me. She'd ask me questions, but when I didn't answer at first, she would just continue on as if I had. This went on for…. weeks, I suppose. Then I started listening and responding back. It just seemed natural to by that time. She rarely talked about herself, but I soon discovered that she is a very keen observer of almost everything that goes on around here. When berries are ripening, if the water level dropped or rose without warning. Who was getting on whose nerves. Then one day, she was relating something she'd seen Bobby doing – he was pranking Hank, I believe. And I started laughing. What she'd said really wasn't all that funny, but I hadn't laughed in so long that once I started, I almost couldn't stop. Ben finally tossed water on me, then he gave Dorrie a hug. I knew why. It was like a boulder I'd been carrying fell from my shoulders. And I never picked it up again."

"Making an already long story a bit shorter, we fell in love. Our son was born shortly after Ben's son. Speaking of which, I'm not sure how religious you are or aren't, but you might want to get together with Ben and Kitty if you observe any of the Jewish holy days."

"The Thing is Jewish?"

Reed paused, then answered.

"**Ben** is Jewish. Just as an observation, while most of us do answer to what used to be our codenames, no-one here seems to prefer them. The only one that calls Creed by Sabretooth is you. Though I wouldn't advise using his first name without permission. Dorrie can get by with that, but few others can. You will, of course, do as you like, but it's been noted that codenames come with images - both good and bad. Sometimes to see someone as they really are, you have to lose what you think they should be."

Magneto mulled that over briefly. He himself preferred the name he'd given himself, though he had noted very few of this group were using it in talking with him. While Reed seemed talkative, he decided to question more about the group. Namely the leadership.

"You are a man of science. As such, I would have to believe that you take a different view of things than most. Sab... Creed and Logan? Both of them seem very... "

"Different? They are and they aren't, I suppose. I really didn't have any real contact with Creed before coming here and that was after his healing, so I only know of his reputation from his earlier years. I would dare say though that around here is likely to be as calm as you've ever seen the two of them. And that with them being very keyed up right now. To be honest though, I'd credit the surroundings more than the men for the difference."

The word _healing_ struck Magneto as odd, but he didn't pry deeper there. At least not for now.

"The surroundings? How so?"

Reed paused and made a small adjustment, studying the drip for a moment before answering.

"Well, let's take you as an example. You can, I believe, sense magnetic waves. Now, I have no idea whether or not you do that at will or do it all of the time nor do I particularly want to know. So far as I'm concerned, that's a bit personal. Regardless, I'm sure that you could imagine not being able to turn off the sensing. Now let's say you were thrust into a situation where the magnetic waves were multiplied by a million fold. Not millions of identical waves, Millions of waves with subtle, but distinctive differences. Now in additional to dealing with all of that, you have to cope with everything else that has to do with everyday living. I think if would take a highly focused individual to function at all in those circumstances."

Reed didn't bother to point out the incredible amount of sensory input Logan and Creed had to deal with in even a small city. Erik was bright enough to do the math. Doing the math himself as he scaled back the drip he was watching, Reed made another comment.

"You know, in retrospect, I have to have a lot of respect for what they were able to do. Most faced with that sort of sensory overload would probably have been reduced to incoherant babbling inside padded walls."

Magneto started to comment to that when a pair of squirrels burst in. Without a word, Reed jumped up and headed outside. Beginning to wonder if he was always going to feel like he was missing a reel of a movie, Magneto followed along behind. He could hear the cries of an upset child and then suddenly found Reed's stretched out arms depositing off his young son with him. He of course took the child and then continued moving in the direction that the arms had retracted in. He felt a bit awkward trying to comfort the boy - Joseph, he believed his name was?

The squall that rang out just ahead answered the question about what the emergency had all been about. Walking in on a birthing was not something he particularly cared to do, so he continued to try diverting Joseph's attention while he changed direction slightly. With any luck, he might find one of the others that he could turn babysitting duty over to.


	34. Chapter 34

**Part XXXIV**

Word spread rapidly as Hank and Namid rushed over, but by the time they got to the scene, there was nothing left for them to do but check the health of Doreen and the newest Richards, another son that they had already named Nathaniel, after Reed's father. Nathaniel was smaller than his brother had been at birth, but seemed otherwise hale and hearty. Hank didn't care much for Doreen's appearance though and picked her up to take her to their makeshift clinic to check her over as best he could. For her part, Namid took a moment to make use of a charm that Shaman had left behind with her. He had said breaking it would let him know that he was needed and the worried look that Hank had was enough to convince her that now was the time to make use of it. Smashing it against a rock, she hurried after Hank to help him.

The rest of the Pride was gathering to support Reed. Ororo passed Kamau to Victor, took Nathaniel from Reed and began to let the infant nurse. About an hour later, they were saw Shaman coming. Namid hadn't mentioned him to anyone else, not wanting to raise hope in case something prevented him from coming quickly, so his arrival was surprising, but very welcome as he was directed straight to where Hank, Namid and Dorrie were. Shaman just nodded his greetings to the gathered group - the presence of Magneto among them struck a discordant note, but this was no time to ask questions. He just hurried inside.

Members of the Pack came over, bringing over food for the Pride as time drug on. Magneto was finally relieved of his young charge by Rahne. Everyone gave up on the attempts to calm Reed down and settled for taking turns pacing with him. No-one knew what was wrong or how bad it was, but they knew that if it hadn't been serious, they would have heard something long before this.

Finally, Hank emerged looking, quite frankly, exhausted. He scanned the area, but no real need for that. The second the door had opened, Reed started making a beeline there.

"This little center that many efforts were put into creating this past spring has, I think, paid back. She'll be fine, Reed. Pregnancy symptoms were masking a nasty case of appendicitis. Fortunately, Dr. Twoyoungmen is a gifted surgeon and between his hands and our little sterile room, he was able to removed the inflamed rascal before it ruptured. However, between the infection and the pregnancy, our dear little tree rodent is going to be on strict bed rest for at least six weeks, so Pride members? We'll have to ask you to help pitch in with the care and feeding of her two lovely sons. Dr Twoyoungmen thinks it would be better if Doreen avoid breast feeding due to the infection still in her system and, of course, she will be unable to provide more than the most basic of care to them while she recovers her strength."

Hank reached out a hand and gripped Reed's shoulder.

"She'd like to see you. I think it would do her more good than any medicine we have available."

He watched as Reed headed for the door, then looked around again.

"And if I might take young Nathaniel? Dr. Twoyoungmen would like to take a good look at the lad while he's here."

Ororo came over and handed over the sleeping infant, then accepted Kamau back from Vic - who seemed a bit distracted. His head was up and he was wearing a questioning expression. Logan and Rahne both caught that look then started testing the air themselves. Finally, Vic spoke.

"Alright, folks - we're movin' back t' th' main house. Ain't quite sure what's on th' air, but I think we got a storm comin'. 'Ro?"

Closing her eyes, Ororo extended her senses, then nodded.

"Not a blizzard, but likely to be a bad storm. Moving in fairly quickly. I wouldn't bother trying to do a full move yet. Just make sure you have enough for a couple of days."

Creed called out.

"McCoy! Dorrie gonna be able t' be moved or she need t' stay put? We got bad weather comin' in."

"She would really be much better off if we can avoid moving her more than absolutely necessary, o glorious leader. Namid and I can stay here with her."

Kitty piped up from nearby.

"Ben and I will stay with them too. I'm still nursing, so I can take care of that during the storm."

Creed looked to Logan, who nodded his approval. Then Storm spoke again.

"To err on caution, make sure to get four days worth of food and water moved into the clinic. And I wouldn't waste time doing it."

Logan was already heading back for his area as he spoke.

"You heard th' lady, people – Pride's got work t' do an' we need t' get our own folks secure. Move it."

As Magneto watched, the Pack members headed back for their territory as the Pride members headed to their individual homes, bringing clothes and supplies with them back to the communal home. As Reed had warned him it would be, Magneto soon found the space to be filling up rapidly, though it didn't end up as claustrophobic feeling as he'd feared it would be.

Shaman came into the main area just long enough to inform Creed that he would be riding out the storm in the clinic as well. Creed gripped the man's shoulder in thanks, then started doing a head count. Bobby was the last one in as hail started coming down. Creed secured the entry and headed for his own area, which Magneto noted was a bit larger than most of the allotted spots.

"Guess we get t' find out now how well our roof repairs over th' summer are gonna hold up."

As Creed settled down on his furry futon, Kamau came over from where he'd been sitting and promptly began to make use of his father as a jungle gym with light, playful growling on both sides. It was about then that one of the others noticed Ororo's absence and asked about it. Creed just laughed.

"Askin' that woman t' stay out o' a good storm is like askin' an otter not t' play in th' water. Ain't happenin'."

The hail settled into a steady rhythm. After awhile, Magneto was aware of another noise. Looking around, he noted several pair of eyes watching him with amusement, apparently waiting for him to figure out what it was. Ororo came inside and dried off before moving to lay down beside Creed and their son. It wasn't until then, when the noise stopped briefly only to restart after she'd settled that it dawned on Magneto that Creed was the source of that sound.

A few snickers broke out here and there when they saw the realization in Magneto's face – and the expression that went along with it. Grumbling to himself about how little it took to amuse some people, he rolled over and covered up for a nap himself.


	35. Chapter 35

**Part XXXV**

When the sun was shining again, more than one member of the Pride mentioned to Magneto that he really needed to find himself something to work on or he'd have severe cabin fever before the year ended – let alone winter. But when he asked for suggestions, he generally received shrugs. Drake offered the reason for that when questioned further.

"You could probably have gotten an answer for that better if you were over with the Pack. They're a more… I don't know if this is the right word.. interactive group. Our Pride tends to be more on the individual mentality track. We all know what we can do – we look to see what we can make that will make life better or easier and we do it. For instance, during the winter, I make ice windmills that Reed uses to catch some of the energy from the storms. Some folks have found they can work with bone and make fish hooks. I know Hank and Namid use the winter months to work with the herbs and other plants things they gathered during the warmer months. Sabes works with the skins and some are starting to get good at making things with them."

Then Drake joined the majority and shrugged.

"You've been around longer than most of us. If you can't think of anything useful to do with your powers or other talents, I doubt we could."

That earned him a glare from Magneto which he easily ignored. He'd been glared at by professional glarers. Besides, he had meant to prick the man's pride and that expression just meant he'd done that successfully.

Very successfully. To Magneto, a sting to his pride was equivalent to a wasp sting in his pants. Then, to his greater chagrin, he realized two things. One, that knowing a metal fish hook would be superior to a bone one didn't give him a clue on how one would be formed. He knew the basic shape, of course, but even with his limited knowledge, he knew that there must be something special to the design and he hadn't a clue what that might be. Two, what metals he had seen around the area were in use. There was no ready metal to scavenge and, while he could pull ore from rock were he able to locate a vein, that was not the same as forged metal. And a conglomerate metal like steel was yet another matter altogether. If he were going to do anything to meet the challenge Drake had thrown down though, he'd need something to work with.

After due thought, he headed back to the waterfront where all of this mess had begun. So far as he knew, the chains and javelin had been abandoned there. He could locate them without a great deal of difficulty from wherever they'd been disposed of and harvest them for raw materials to use.

As he headed past where lunch preparations were underway, he heard a rumble of thunder, which oddly enough seemed to be a signal for a round of laughter among those gathered. Frowning, he shook his head. Must be another of those 'inside jokes' that seemed so common here. Ignoring it, he continued on his way.

Reaching the clearing, Magneto could sense the nearby ferrous metals easily. But he realized that he'd been a little too intent on his goal when he noticed movement over to his left just before hearing an exasperated woman's exclamation in an unknown language accompanied by a bemused male's chuckle. A fog rose almost immediately from the water to obscure the view of the couple, but that alone was enough to tell him who he'd walked in on. Retreating, he now realized what that laughter had been about and was momentarily angry before it occurred to him that there was no way that they had any idea where he was going. And no reason for them to have guessed it since he hadn't gone back there since that first day.

Sighing, he shook his head again and pulled the chain and javelin to him. It was going to be a long winter.


	36. Chapter 36

**Part XXXVI**

Winter came a bit later than expected, but when it did come, it came with a vengeance. The first storm of the season would prove to be a three-day one, but it started at what all of the colony considered to be the worst of times. Mid-afternoon, when individuals were most likely to be away from the group home.

The wild squirrels had already long since retreated to their dens, but the small core group of six squirrels that always seemed to be near Dorrie were still semi-active, including Magneto's shadow, Cherry. For his part, Magneto had just been enjoying what had started out as a bright, clear morning by taking his usual post-lunch walk. By now, he'd become more used to the 'rhythm' of the Pride, enough so that even if he wasn't quite pulling his own weight yet, he at least wasn't feeling like an anchor.

One thing he'd learned was that a roar was never casual. While he still couldn't tell one from another, when Magneto heard one ring out while he was studying a rock formation, he knew to head back for the group home even before Cherry started circling him as a warning. Even so, before man and squirrel were even halfway back, he found himself in a white-out of whirling, blinding snow.

He felt a shivering down at his ankle and a pull as the light squirrel grabbed on and clung to his pants to keep from being blown away by the sudden strong winds. Magneto felt down and gathered Cherry up, using some of his own outer wear to help protect her from the elements. While he couldn't see anything but white or hear anything but the howling winds, he wasn't too worried. He extended his senses until he could feel the chain that he had carefully stored back at the communal home, then used that as his guideline to find his way back. One thing to be grateful for? He knew there were no bodies of water between him and his destination. Hidden rocks and branches in conjunction with the winds caused more than a few stumbles, but nothing he couldn't pick himself up and continue on from.

Between fighting the relentless winds and the unseen terrain, he felt like it took him forever to find his way to the door. In reality, it had only been about ten minutes. Still, he was snow covered and chilled to the bone before he got to the door and felt himself being pushed the rest of the way inside. The sudden ability to see again combined with the muffling of the noise as the door was shoved closed behind him led to a moment of disorientation. Adding to that disorientation was the realization that Creed was the one that had entered behind him, carrying one of the young male members of the Pride. Creed sat the boy down, then gave Magneto's shoulder a pat.

"Nice t' see you made it back on yer own. Alright, people – are we all accounted for now?"

As it turned out, one more was still missing, but then the door reopened. The other searcher, Drake, had the last of their group in tow. Creed gave out a sigh of relief and began to brush the snow from himself. A short snort of amusement came out as Cherry popped her head out from Magneto's clothing.

"Nice fashion accessory. Not every man can wear fur an' get by with it."

From her area, Dorrie gave a chittering call that was answered back by Cherry as Magneto brushed her off and sat her down on the ground. He then proceeded to brush more of the snow from himself. Cherry beat him back to his area where one of the others had left a pot of a hot mulled juice. He looked at the pot, then moved over to the food storage area, followed by several pairs of curious eyes. He came back out with a small bowl of nuts and dried fruits, pausing at the fire where another pot was staying warm with non-mulled juice. He poured some of it into the bowl, then offered it to a still shivering, but delighted Cherry. Then he settled down on the furs himself and poured a hot drink for himself, slightly annoyed that he was still shivering some himself.

The warmth of the area and the hot drink soon broke the chill though and the warmed fruit/nut mix soon had Cherry comfortable again as well. She seemed inclined to share Magneto's area and he had no objections. He was just glad that one of Reed's inventions here was an edible mix that kept the core group of squirrels free of parasites.

Winter living conditions afforded Magneto with a closer view of how interactions in the Pride worked. Creed was firmly in the position of the alpha male with Ororo equally firmly the alpha female. However, neither of them were particularly demanding about things being done 'their way'. There were a few exceptions – certain rules about hunting, fishing or gathering that had to be followed. Emergency procedures that weren't to be deviated from. But what rules there were seemed both few and for the overall benefit of everyone, so there was very little chafing at them. The one inflexible rule that he found fascinating was the feeding pecking order. He had to admit to himself that he personally would have had the ones that did the hunting get the first pick of the food on the theory that they needed the energy more to continue with the hunting. When he questioned Creed on that once, he got a look from the large man that suggested he was hearing what he usually termed as 'a cub question comin' from an adult body'.

"Th' hunters here don't go without food. Anybody here look starved t' you? Didn't think so. But give it a bit of thought. I know yer a city boy, but I woulda thought common sense would tell folks that the ones you want t' get hungry first are th' ones that get th' food. Just a natural thing that if your belly is wantin' grub, body's more likely t' keep its mind on getting' that grub. Little bit o' urgency is a boon t' a hunter. Makes 'em sharper."

Part of Magneto wanted to dispute that logic, but the longer he was with the group, the more sense it seemed to make. Giving the next generation the first and best to insure the best possible start in life. One thing he'd learned early that winter was never to bring up the term 'survival of the fittest' around any of them. Namely the first time he let the phrase slip around Creed.

"That's bullshit, Lehnsherr - especially from someone that was castin' aspersions on ferals not that damn long ago. Fittest in what way? Folks with th' high IQs might not be able t' wrestle down a big guy. Age? Very young can't fend fer themselves - should all o' them be ditched? Very old can't usually fend fer themselves either, but they got decades o' experience and knowledge t' call on."

Creed gestured around the room.

"Every one o' us has a strength. Every one o' us has a weakness. By workin' together, we maximize our strengths an' minimize our weaknesses. Just give a good thorough thinkin' through o' 'survival o' th' fittest' crap - I generally figure it ends up as bein' survival o' th' most selfish. Body that can hunt and beat others off its food? Yeah - they'll starve some o' th' others out. But what kind o' quality o' life is that? If you don't wanna do anything in life but survive? Go for it. Might not live long, but bet it'll feel like a long time. Us here? We prefer living t' bare-bones survival."

There was whole-hearted approval of that from around the room. For companionship, Magneto ended up where, oddly enough, he normally ended up. In the homespace of Reed, Doreen and their two sons. Doreen was still on enforced bedrest, but gaining strength. She gave him a sympathetic grin.

"You picked the wrong topic. When Victor gets into his protective mode, he's fairly easy to tick off."

Reed stopped what he was doing and turned toward her.

"Wait - what did you just say?"

"Protective mode. And yes, that means what you think it does."

"I have absolutely no idea what either of you are talking about."

Dorrie just gave Magneto another grin.

"Kamau's getting a brother or sister. Unless I'm mistaken, but I don't think I am."


	37. Chapter 37

**Part XXXVII**

By the time mid-winter hit, Dorrie's observation on Ororo was confirmed as correct and Magneto got to experience firsthand what Drake jokingly referred to as the Madonna effect. That odd feeling of contentment that hung over the group home. When he mentioned it to Reed, the man just gave him a slight smile and a shrug.

"Would you prefer an underlying feeling of tension, Erik?"

Dorrie was sitting up and gave Magneto one of her long looks before she spoke in her usual matter-of- fact manner .

"He might, Reed. I think a peaceful calm feeling is as alien to him as anything else here is."

Magneto frowned a bit.

"Dare I ask how you come to that conclusion?"

"Pretty damn obvious actually, Lehnsherr. Dorrie here is just more upfront at statin' things th' way that they are. Go on an' tell th' man since he asked, gal."

No mistaking the deep voice behind him, so Magneto just kept his eyes on the young woman who was beginning to brush out her tail – partially to keep it still. He had long since noticed it tended to switch around when she was either upset or ill at ease.

"Well, sir – it isn't as if you haven't made a name for yourself. I've read things about you by those supporting you and those against you. Throwing out everything flattering said by one side and everything rude said by the other side, you still end up with the picture of a man whose life was altered at a very young age by a war that traumatized even fully grown men. And you sort of had a triple whammy for back in those days – Jewish, a mutant and, if some of the stories are bo be believed, married to a gypsy. I believe I recall the gypsies were another of the races that was being targeted? Any way, since those days, you've gained a reputation as someone who commonly isolates himself and maintains a group of followers that can most accurately be described as a bunch of yes-men. I suppose that's only natural since you also have a reputation for being someone that doesn't take criticism or correction well."

"All of that plus what I've seen for myself leads me to think that you've never really ever stopped looking over your shoulder and the closest you can get to feeling secure is by being surrounded by what amounts to a large number of pawns that parrot back to you what you want to hear. I've seen you talk – I've seen you listen – but I've never seen you debate a point with anyone the way I've seen Hank and Victor and Reed debate. The difference being that when they talk, you know they're stating their opinions and observations – you tend to speak like you're always stating the facts rather than just the truth as you know it."

There was a lengthy pause before Magneto spoke again. Without his conscious notice, Cherry had settled by him and he had automatically begun to stroke her. As he thought, he discounted arguing against his followers being yes-men and pawns. Compared to the group currently around him, it was hard to deny that they at least appeared as such. Instead, he chose to quibble one the last phrase she used.

"The 'truth as I know it'?"

This time the voice behind him was deep, musical and feminine as Ororo moved to Creed's side.

"Surely you've lived long enough to notice that the truth changes with the observer. The truth is not an absolute. It is intangible, like love."

"Love feels pretty damn tangible to me."

That earned Creed a good-natured elbow shot into his ribs.

"Not love-making. The emotion."

Smiling at Ororo, Dorrie laid back down, then turned her attention back to Magneto.

"You know, if you let yourself, you could fit in very nicely here, sir. No offense meant, but you aren't getting any younger and if some of the people you've been leading really do believe in that survival of the fittest stuff, you're going to spend more time defending your right to rule than you are ruling. Is it really so bad not being the one in charge for once?"

There was an even longer pause as Magneto took a moment to look around the area. They were all, very literally, miles of anywhere of note and surrounded on all sides by a violent storm that isolated them even more than the distance did. None of them agreed with him, few even liked him, but there was nothing genuinely hostile against him here. His eyes moved down to where Cherry had settled – and there was proof that they had even taken the extra steps to ensure his safety despite their basic philosophical differences.

"No. Not so bad at all."

It wasn't as if he'd never allowed himself to relax over the years, but it had truthfully been quite awhile since the last time. He took a deep breath – and stopped fighting the feeling. Then he heard a chuckle from behind.

"See? Wasn't that painful, was it? Yer a survivor, Lehnsherr. Take a few minutes now an' again just t' savor that."


	38. Chapter 38

**Part XXXVIII**

The rest of the winter began to pass rather quickly for Magneto. He had discovered that if he wanted to hear anything about what hardships the colony had gone through – what both Dorrie and Ororo both tended to refer to as birthing pains – all he had to do is ask. Generally, she would just give a look to either Creed or Reed and, if they nodded, she would launch into whatever tale he had asked about. Normally, the nod to her was immediate. Only once was there a hesitation. It was when he asked about the other time a spider, like the one that had nearly attacked him, had been encountered.

The hesitation was long enough that he turned himself and looked to Creed, who was in turn looking to Ororo. Once she nodded, he gave Dorrie the nod. He was rather surprised that the story started out as more of a courtship story – one going back to near the end of their first year in this area. As was Dorrie's habit, she went into a great deal of detail – possibly more detail than they were comfortable with, but it began to click when the story reached the point of Creed not returning after the month had passed.

Her description of Creed's return was a starkly graphic depiction of her first sight of him as Hank carried him through the camp to where he was treated. Magneto frowned as he thought about just how near he had come to possibly winding up in a similar condition. Well, he supposed that explained why Creed was so certain the group could survive without him. They'd had to before.

It also started him thinking on earlier conversations about group survival. It hit him rather hard when everything connected for him like an oversized jigsaw that had needed just one more piece to make it all connect and make sense. He could even almost hear Charles' voice saying _'about damn time, old friend'_.

His dreams were empirical – but he knew history had shown time and time again that few empires survived their emperors for long. In this secluded area, listening to tales by a fire, his thoughts seemed clearer. Far fewer distractions, no groups of people striving to get his attention – and he could see part of what Charles had been trying to tell him. His vision – what Ororo would refer to as an individual truth – it wouldn't survive him. No-one else could see things the way that he could because his eyes had been forged by his experiences. Wars, rejections, loss – explaining those things to someone was nothing at all compared to having lived through them. Just like a photograph of a pile of war dead could never accurately portray the true horrors – the smell – the almost tangible aura of fear left hanging in the air – the look of dead eyes that seemed to stare into your soul and drag it into the darkness to a doom that was somehow worse than death. An impersonal ending of life, stripped of clothing, hair, dignity, identity. Branded like an animal. Butchered like an animal. And what had they done to earn that doom? They had been born in the wrong place at the wrong time to the wrong parents.

It wasn't until he felt a soft hand touch his arm that Magneto realized that Dorrie had stopped speaking. It was her hand on his arm and she was looking at him sympathetically.

"Man seems like he has a lot to digest, gal. Think that's it fer stories for now."

So saying, Creed wrapped an arm around Ororo and they moved back to their own area where Kamau was still sleeping, but showing signs of starting to stir.

"I had forgotten just how badly that spider had injured you."

"Nothin' worth rememberin', lady – water under th' bridge. Only part we need t' recall is what they're capable of an' that we need t' keep 'em thinned down."

"Only thinned?"

"Yep. Momma Nature didn't ask our approval when she added 'em t' th' food chain. Protectin' our territory? That's in th' rules. Protectin' th' whole world? That ain't."

"There are those that would say that the giant spiders are a violation of nature and so not protected by the laws of nature."

"They eat, breathe, reproduce – all that's sounds pretty natural t' me. babe. Nature decides they don't fit, they won't be around long. Size won't protect 'em from Nature pullin' th' plug. If it did, we'd still be dodgin' T-Rex teeth. Any other arguments I can think o' against th' spiders? They sound too damn much like th' rationalizations folks have been usin' against folks like me an' you. I don't mind bein' an asshole, but I do try t' avoid being a hypocrite."

"Have I ever mentioned to you that your priorities occasionally seem a bit skewed to me?"

"Yep. I do believe that subject's been broached a time or two. But give it a little thought. Who would you rather have at yer back in a fight? Someone that acts like an ass, but whose word you can take as a given or a guy that acts like a real gentleman, but that you can't even trust t' tell you th' time o' day?"

"No contest there, but we were referring to hypocrisy."

"What is hypocrisy other'n lyin' t' yourself? An' if somebody can lie t' themselves, who else is gonna be exempt from it?"

Ororo smirked slightly as she moved over to pick up Kamau.

"Have I also mentioned to you that it is slightly maddening that you tend to have an answer for everything?"

"Yep. Hey, I've got a lotta years on me, woman. I may be a man o' few convictions, but th' ones I got, I put headwork on."


	39. Chapter 39

**Part XXXIX**

While Magneto continued to request tales from Dorrie, she began to request that he return the favor and share some stories himself. So he found himself stirring up some old memories, mostly of the days pre-Genosha. He found Dorrie to be a very attentive listener though she did tend to ask what he considered to be off-topic questions. For example, if he mentioned trees, she'd ask about the variety – if flowers, the type and color. He wasn't annoyed about the questions really, just a bit bemused that she cared.

"Why does the color of a flower make a difference to the story?"

"Well, I suppose to me, not a great deal. But if the flower made a large enough impression on you that you mention it, it makes me curious about what it was about it that made it stand out to you."

After a moment's thought, he conceded the point that if it was important enough for him to bother mentioning, it was important enough to describe. After that, he tried to be more descriptive and her questions decreased dramatically. Mainly clarification if he used a word she wasn't familiar with or brought up a place she didn't know the location of.

The female squirrel that seemed most constantly at Dorrie's side also seemed to pay close attention to the stories to the point that it seemed that some of the comments were coming from her instead of Dorrie. When he finally was comfortable enough with her to ask about it, Reed was the one to speak up and answer him.

"Remarkable thing, actually. Something about being around Doreen boosts the comprehension level of the squirrels who have spent prolonged periods of time with her. Plus, she's able to form a deeper bond with one squirrel at a time and those particular squirrels jump to a level comparable to most of us. In fact, she tells me that one of her late partners, Monkey Joe, was talented with computers."

Doreen gave a slightly wistful smile and nodded.

"He was. I never was as good at working with them as he was. Considering the keyboard was bigger than he was, he could type awfully fast."

Cherry made a chittering noise that drew Magneto's attention downward as well as brought a question to his mind.

"Does it bother her that I tend to think of her as a pet?"

"Not really – she thinks it's rather sweet. Does it bother you that she tends to think of you in the same way?"

Magneto's mouth opened, then closed. He really needed to stop asking questions that he did not necessarily want to know the answer to.

Shaman returned earlier than usual despite the bad weather. He didn't want to let too much time pass before rechecking up on Dorrie and her youngest son, especially since Hank and Namid weren't part of the Pride. The day after he arrived, the day was bitter cold, but clear, so most of the Pride took the opportunity to bundle up both to soak in a little of the rare sunshine and to give Dorrie a bit of privacy while Shaman examined her.

Only three people were not bundled against the cold - Drake, Creed and Ororo. Everyone else was keeping fairly close to the fire pit area where Creed had drug some branches and started up a fire as Drake fetched some of the frozen meat from their 'locker'.

"May as well take advantage an' get as much fresh air as we can. No tellin' how long before we'll get another open day like this."

To the great relief of both Dorrie and Reed, Shaman gave both her and Nathaniel a clean bill of health. The one piece of bad news was that Dorrie's milk had dried up during her convalescence but the other nursing mothers had no problem with filling in until Nathaniel was weaned. Shaman did caution her to take things slowly, but he felt sure that if she gradually raised her activity level, she'd be back to climbing trees come Spring.

Shaman opted to remain with the Pride through the next storm, using that time to take the opportunity to give everyone in the group a basic health exam. The extra time he spent with Ororo and the other expectant mothers wasn't anything to raise any alarms, but the extra time he spent with Creed did cause a ripple of concern throughout the Pride. As usual, when Drake approached him about it, Creed didn't respond well.

"What? You thinkin' I've got a bun in th' oven myself, Drake? Well, don't worry – if I find out I'm knocked up, I'll make sure yer th' first t' know if you turn out t' be th' father."

After that, the only one nervy enough to question him was the only one he felt had any right to ask – namely Ororo. He just drew her to the side away from the others.

"Nothin' big, lady. Nothin' that's even slowed me down really. I think I mentioned t' you once that I can't see th' way you do without effort. Well, can't do it at all unless th' distance is pretty close, say within a couple o' feet. Guess that spider left a permanent scar o' sorts after all."

He gave a slight shrug.

"Like I said, not a big deal. I still see heat shapes at a distance just fine. As t' th' other? Fortunately th' only folks I really care t' see that way are ones I don't mind being close t'."

"But.. will you still be able to tell one person from another?"

He started laughing hard enough to draw the whole group's attention and that sliced through the concern that had been being felt.

"Yes – same as I have all this time, woman. You might not be able t' make heads or tails outta th' way I see th' world, but for me? Always been that way. Heat signatures an' scents. Guess it's sorta like th' way you can tell things by reading a breeze that I could never figure out."

Ororo rested herself against him as it occurred to her that nothing about him had changed – just what she knew about him. He felt her tension ease and nuzzled her as his hand moved to rest on her abdomen.

"Now that we're past th' stuff that don't matter, what did Shaman say 'bout th' new cub?"

"He only confirmed what I already feel. She is healthy and growing well so far."

"She? He can tell you it's a gal?"

"No – but that's what feels right to me."

"Good enough fer me. So, what are you plannin' t' call her?"

"I had been thinking about it. And I believe I like the name Adimu best."

He gave her abdomen a light rub.

"Adimu… I like it."


	40. Chapter 40

**Part XXXX**

It took the better part of a day to do it, but Ororo finally convinced Victor that he should tell the Pride about his eye sight – mainly because they would likely be inventing something far worse in their minds than the truth. He grumbled, but called a group meeting.

The concept of calling a group meeting when they already were all living under the same roof struck Magneto as a touch odd, but Dorrie explained it to him.

"We all have our own little 'privacy zones' – basically, unless someone is making a noise like they're hurt or in distress, everyone not in that person's zone tends to ignore them or just consider it background noise without paying particular attention to it. So, if there's news or something else the whole group needs to be aware of? Group meeting."

About that time, Victor gave a growl to draw everyone's attention. Ororo settled at his side with Kamau in her lap, watching his mother's rounding abdomen with obvious fascination. Ororo had begun trying to explain the coming baby to him, but he really wasn't connecting all of the dots yet. Kamau's attention was drawn upward though as his father began to speak.

"Listen up, people, 'cause I don't plan on repeatin' myself. When Shaman an' me had a talk, all it was doin' was confirmin' what I already knew an' th' way things have been since back before Kamau was born. Ain't a big flippin' deal but I'm bringin' it up 'cause seems some o' you are prone t' over-active imaginations. Whole deal is about my eyes – spider did manage t' do a bit of damage my healin' factor didn't tend to. I still got my normal vision, but what some o' you may not be up on is that I don't see th' world like most o' you apparently do. What I see is more like… what is it you called that thing, Reed? Oh yeh, a thermal imager. I used t' be able t' see th' way most do by concentratin' on it an' I still can t' an extent, but I'm limited now t' things within my arm's reach. None o' this makes any difference t' anything really – just if you want me t' comment on th' pattern o' somethin', don't be holdin' it up across th' room from me."

"Now, for the important part o' this meetin'. Shaman's goin' t' be goin' over when the storm breaks an' spend a few days with th' Pack and after that, he's plannin' t' drop in on Summers an' Frost's bunch. Anyone has a message, an item or some such t' go t' either group, get it ready t' go. Can't ask th' man t' hang around twiddlin' his thumbs when there might be as little as a few hours between storms. That's it, people. Go back t' whatever you were up to."

As it turned out, the storm broke during the night and they woke to clear, cold weather. Shaman bundled up the things he'd been given to take over to the other groups and said his farewells, stopping last at Magneto, offering him a handshake.

"I will have to rethink my position on you, Lord Magnus. Doreen shows a marked fondness for you."

Magneto took the offered hand.

"While that's nice to hear, I'm not sure why her feelings would have any pull with you."

Shaman paused as if considering his words carefully.

"Doreen is a rare soul. She sees truer and deeper than most do from my experience. If she sees good in you, I have no doubt that it is there whether it is evident to me or not."

"Would it change your opinion if you knew about her striking me when I first came?"

"I already know about that – and I sincerely doubt that even you can deny that you were asking for it. You've apparently gone through some soul searching in the weeks since then. For the better, might I add."

"Possibly. Possibly not. I admittedly am having a bit of self-debate over my place in the scheme of things. Any suggestions?"

The tone of his question was light, but the tone of Shaman's answer was not.

"Look inside yourself for that. You've been allowing yourself to be a symbol instead of a man. If that's what you want from the rest of your life, then go right ahead. Otherwise, think more about what you want rather than what others want you to be."

"Does it sound odd that I'm really not sure what that might be?"

That got a smile from Shaman.

"No. Not at all. If you've been concentrating on survival - the needs of the group versus the needs of yourself as an individual? It's actually frighteningly easy to lose yourself. Spring isn't here yet, Lord Magnus. Take the time to do a bit of searching. You might not be as far away as you think are."


	41. Chapter 41

**Part XXXXI**

The beginning of March saw Shaman returning again, bearing messages and gifts from the other two groups. But this time he didn't come alone. In his company was a handsome blonde woman. She was already known to a few of them, but her arrival was a surprise to almost everyone. Most especially to Magneto. Her name? Aleytys Forrester - Lee to most of her friends.

She was speaking to Shaman as she pushed back the hood of her parka, but she fell silent when she saw Magneto standing frozen there, looking at her. A smile formed and, as she moved over toward him, the Pride discretely scattered. The day was cold and overcast, but nowhere near as bitter as it had been on Shaman's last visit, so going outside was a perfectly valid way of exiting a potentially awkward scene. Shaman moved off to start his rounds of seeing how everyone had been fairing since his last visit nearly two months before, effectively leaving the two alone.

She looked very much as she had the last time they had been together. A bit older, but so was he. She might have been slightly past the bloom of youth now, but she was apparently going to be among those blessed ranks of women who gain a womanly face with an almost timeless cast to it.

"I'm … pleased to see you made it through the recent unpleasantness. I had wondered where you might have ended up."

Her laughter brought back to him days and nights spent in warmer climates as well as more intimate moments.

"So formal now, Erik? Have the years put that much distance between us?"

"I suppose in a way they have. And haven't. I've gone through changes and I'm sure you have as well."

Her expression grew more serious and she stepped nearer, looking into his eyes.

"I hope I've changed. I was a regular horse's ass to you on more than one occasion. Not making excuses for my behavior, but giving you the reason. I feel I owe you that. I was... leery of things going too far, got myself so wrapped up in our differences that I started to ignore the parts that were good. And it was so easy to drift apart. You were busy, I was busy… not being forceful enough to carve out time together. A day turned into a week turned into a month turned into….."

She drew a deep breath.

"I cared about you… I still care for you. And I apologize for letting things end the way they did. Feeling embarassed about letting time pass was no excuse for not keeping in touch."

He reached out a hand, brushing back some of her still long blonde hair from her shoulder.

"As much my fault as yours. It was always tomorrow that I was going to say something. And as the song said, tomorrow's always a day away. But, what brought you here? Not that I'm not happy to see you, Aleytys, but this would have been the last place on Earth I would have expected to see you."

Another light laugh bubbled out at that.

"This isn't exactly the standard setting for you either, you know. Actually, I was invited. And since the invitation was from a young woman that I'm fairly sure I've never met, curiosity got the better of me. Do you know a Doreen Richards?"

Magneto turned his head to look outside, but Dorrie's back was very firmly to them. He gestured toward her any way.

"I'm fairly certain you would remember her if you had ever met her. She's the young lady out there with the long red squirrel tail."

Lee stared for a moment, then shook her head lightly.

"Definitely never met. I wonder where she heard of me?"

A slightly self-conscious throat clearing before he spoke.

"That source would have been me. Doreen and I have been exchanging stories. You came up in a few of them, Aleytys."

"Might I hope in a flattering way?"

"I would think so. Yes. Would you care to take a walk outside with me?"

Lee just nodded and let him lead the way through the door. An awkward silence started to grow until it was deflected when she got her first good look at Storm and Sabretooth together, with Sabretooth carrying a young dark-skinned boy while the very obviously pregnant Storm walked at his side. Magneto noticed her gaze and followed it, chuckling softly.

"She is less than three months from delivering their second child if I heard correctly. Not a couple that you would have expected?"

"Noooooo - not in the least. So...? This is your new group?"

A snort from Sabretooth followed that question and Magneto shook his head.

"No, I'm just a guest here. We are, as the saying goes, on Sabretooth's turf. Or, perhaps more accurately, we're in Creed and Ororo's domain."

Lee just nodded, digesting that as her eyes continued to look over the area and the group members.

"Oh... is that Reed Richards? As in the Fantastic Four's Reed Richards?"

"It is indeed. And the young woman who invited you here is his wife."

Lee looked back again at the woman with the squirrel tale and just barely stopped herself from wondering outloud about Susan Richards. The Invisible Girl must not have been one of the ones that survived the bombs. To cover her near flub, she continued talking.

"Also not a pair I would have matched if you'd given me pictures and asked me to connect the couples. But I suppose they aren't really any stranger a couple than you and I were."

She stopped walking as Magneto reached out and took her arm.

"I never really thought of us as a strange pairing, Aleytys."

Looking into his eyes, Lee gave a soft sigh.

"Am I being a horse's ass again, Erik?"

"No, Aleytys. You are simply talking too much."

He leaned toward her and, as she didn't pull away, kissed her deeply. From the sidelines, Ororo took Victor's arm.

"To use your words, Victor? About damn time."


	42. Chapter 42

**Part XXXXII**

April arrived and, with it, Spring. In that month leading to it, there were a number of issues that Magneto was working through. One was acknowledging that even though he had been surrounded by others since the destruction, he had been very much to himself. Alone in a crowd, as the saying goes. Another issue was that he had to admit (even if only to himself) was that yes, he had become surrounded by yes-men and parrots – and worse, a substantial number of them were not even sincere yes-men. Most were ones who only agreed with him to his face and within his hearing. Or at least what they assumed was the range of his hearing.

An easier issue was his relationship with Aleytys. It didn't take long back together to reveal that the time and distance between them had made both of them more appreciative of what they had had together. And of what was still there. Aleytys still seemed to be a bit of a worrier about what he considered to be minor things, but he had real hopes that they might be able to sustain and grow their relationship again.

On her side of the equation, Aleytys had finally gotten introduced to Doreen. She'd found it had taken her awhile to grow used to Doreen's rather rodent-ish appearance, but as they began to talk more, the only thing that really distracted her now was the unconscious way Doreen's tail moved around during a conversation.

And the two of them began to have conversations on a regular basis both because of the circumstance of being under the same roof and the discovery of similar senses of humor. Aleytys also found that Dorrie was a good ear for her – sympathetic, but not so much so that she wouldn't let her know in no uncertain terms if she thought Lee's thoughts were a bit off-kilter.

One such occasion occurred when Lee voiced the concern that she and Erik didn't have enough in common for a long-term commitment. She found herself cut off in mid-sentence when a well-aimed acorn bounced off her forehead. Doreen tsked Lee once she knew she had her full attention.

"While I have great admiration for thoughtful people, Lee? If you don't mind my saying so, you seem to be giving way too much thought to the wrong things. Every cloud you see doesn't mean a tornado is on the way, you know."

Doreen paused to shift Nathaniel in her arms.

"Let's play '20 Questions'… well, not anywhere near twenty, but you get the idea. One – are you intelligent enough to understand what Erik says when he talks to you?"

"Well, yes but…"

"No buts. Either yes, you are – or no, you're not. I didn't say a thing about whether you agreed with what he says. Just if you understand what he's saying."

"Yes."

"Two – is he intelligent enough to understand what you say?"

"Well, of course. Oh, sorry – yes."

"Do you show respect to one another?"

"Yes."

"Love each other?

"….yes."

Doreen then plopped her son into Lee's lap.

"Then, my friend, might I suggest that everything else you're throwing out to worry about is just so much noise? Seems to me that if you both liked exactly the same things and agreed on all the issues that when you talked to each other, it would end up being about as boring as if you were in a room and talking to yourself. So long as you can bounce new thoughts and ideas off of each other without getting into a screaming fit, seems to me that would make life a lot more interesting."

Doreen then gave her a grin.

"Besides, I seem to recall someone telling me that they had apologized to Erik for obsessing over trivial stuff until she was resembling the south end of a horse headed north."

Lee started laughing and bounced Nathaniel lightly in her lap.

"I yield to your wisdom – and hereby grant you the leave to apply acorns to my skull if you ever catch me backsliding."

"Don't think I won't either. Keep hold of Nat for me, would you? I'm going to get Kamau and give Ororo a break. She's bound to be getting antsy in this weather."

Antsy was an underestimation. There was a storm brewing outside and it was calling to her. She gratefully turned Kamau over to Dorrie's care, then stood stiffly and moved to the door. Victor looked up from where he had been talking with Bobby, gave his shoulder a pat then headed over to join Ororo. They stepped out into the beginnings of the thunderstorm together, holding hands as they moved off together in the early spring rains. Once they had a little distance, he stopped and helped her out of her now sopping clothing before stripping himself. Then they both tilted their heads up, letting the rains run unimpeded down their naked flesh. Less than two months now from her expected date, Ororo's swollen abdomen rippled as the fetus responded to the storm as well.

Victor moved behind her, wrapping his arms around her and letting his hands rest where he could feel his restless she-cub.

"I wonder if she's excitable 'cause you're enjoyin' this or if this means she'll have some o' yer gifts in her?"

"I would like to have a daughter that carries on the gifts. But Adimu will be whatever she will be. One thing I am sure of - she will be a free spirit as we are."

He nuzzled her from behind.

"I wish she was closer t' comin'. We may be havin' trouble show up on our doorstep."

"Lehnsherr?"

"Yep. I don't think he's gonna go back t' his ol' bunch. An' some o' them are nuts enough t' try an' force th' issue."

"Perhaps not. Perhaps one of the ones wanting to rule will step up."

"Mebbe. Don't believe it'll play out that way, but mebbe that's my natural paranoia puttin' in it's two cents."

"I trust your instincts, but there's nothing we can do about the matter at this moment in time, Victor."

"Then let's move on t' somethin' we can do somethin' about."

The clearing they were in was covered with vivid green new grass and young clover. He helped Ororo to settle down onto the wet ground before he joined her and their mouths found one another's.

Lee had no clue why everyone found a particularly deep rumble of thunder so amusing at first, but she got a clue when she overheard Bobby joking over to Reed.

"That's our boy - half-cat, half-rabbit."


	43. Chapter 43

**Part XXXXIII**

There was one point that both Aleytys and Erik agreed on - the two of them could not comfortably be together with the group that he had been leading. Too many of them were vehemently anti-human. They went to Creed who didn't seem terribly surprised.

"Got no trouble with either o' you stayin' with us longer. But just so we got an understanding, Lehnsherr - one o' your old bunch comes up lookin' for trouble, we aren't gonna be shy about givin' it to them."

"While I hope it won't come to that, agreed."

Still, when the day came that he went off by himself for a bit, Magneto returned in an irritable state of mind. Victor just exchanged a look with Ororo, then went back to where he was lending a hand in building a summer home for the couple – who he generally referred to as Lee and Lehnsherr. The Pack had already been informed that Magneto was staying and Victor needed to get his brother alone for a discussion about what sort of grief it might end up causing them.

Logan was among the ones pitching in on the newest home, so Victor had pulled him over to the side during a lull in activity.

"Lehnsherr went off t' put a call in t' his folks this mornin'. Didn't speak t' him when he came back, but he didn't return in a good mood. I figure that means they didn't take th' news o' his abdication too well."

"Yeh, well, not what I'd call a big shock there, Vic. Half ' 'em have highly developed skills in takin' things badly. What do you think'll come o' it?"

"I've run with part o' his pack before, Jimmy. Way I see it? It will really depend if they've already got an alpha wannabe in line - an' if th' other are willin' t' back 'em."

"An' if not? Not like they can force Lehnsherr t' rule 'em if he don't want to."

"There's one way they can. By bringin' back a dead body an' then makin' up whatever 'final words' he gave for them to follow."

"Couldn't they just say Lehnsherr gave 'em final words when he abdicated?"

"Yeah - they could, but advantage o' dead folks is that they can't come back around an' contradict you down th' road. Or change their mind an' take th' leadership back. Say what you will about Lehnsherr, Jimmy - man can draw a crowd. An' likely would even more so if they make him into a martyr."

"Don't imagine he'd care much for that option, Vic."

"Don't imagine anyone that'd pull that caring much for his opinion. Or ours either."

"Point taken. Guess that means I'd better warn my folks t' watch out for possible disgruntled assassins."

"You ain't already done that? Slippin' there, Jimmy."

"Not really. I'd warned 'em t' watch out fer disgruntled followers before. Just upgradin' it to ex-followers. Let's get back an' finish this cabin. We got huntin' t' do later."

Near the end of April, Dorrie was back to her old self again, to Joseph's delight and Nathaniel's confusion. Never having known his mother to be active, Nathaniel needed a little time to adjust to Dorrie's normal energy level, but he soon adapted. Then Reed's main worry became the tendency of both boys to want to climb. And climb high. He quickly grew to appreciate his gift of both long reach and ability to form a trampoline at short notice. Though he was a bit surprised at how little those talents were needed with Joseph. He seemed to be able to climb better than he could walk.

Reed's mind was put at least a little at ease when Namid gave them their checkups and found that both boys were well beyond their age levels when it came to balance and co-ordination. She was finding that a common trait to the children being born to one or more feral parents and decided that might be something she and Hank should look into closer. Especially as she was beginning to suspect they would be having one of their own – possibly even before the end of the year.

Everyone was active during the mid-spring days. Planting, tending their few domestic animals, making or remaking clothing as the children grew larger. Having arrived when the bulk of the previous year's work had been finished, this spring rush was something new for Lee and Erik to adjust to, but it didn't take long for them both to find ways to pitch in.

Lee was finding many of the various skills she had developed running a fishing vessel were useful here and found herself giving instructions on everything from making/mending basic nets to waterproofing. By now, she had also gotten used to the company of squirrels – both Cherry and another red squirrel that went by the odd name of Snipper. Snipper was apparently her own 'watch-squirrel', which was a concept she found odd, but since Erik seemed fine with it, who was she to argue? Besides, Dorrie was her combination best friend/little sister, so squirrels were never far regardless.

Working in a patch of sunshine on a new throwing net, Lee didn't notice the two pair of cat-like eyes watching her from nearby.

The owner of one of those pair gave a soft sigh before shifting her gaze upward.

"Mild weather. It would be a lovely day for a flight."

A clawed hand move to rest lightly on her shoulder.

"I know, 'Ro. Mebbe th' kitten'll give you a break an' come early."

That got a light laugh as they resumed their walk.

"This one will come when she feels like it. Adimu already has a stubborn streak."

"Can't imagine who she's getting' that from."


	44. Chapter 44

**Part XXXXIV**

The first week of May tried Ororo's patience. The month ushered itself in with a brilliant thunderstorm that was strong enough that Hank and Namid made the trek over to make sure Adimu had not decided to arrive early. While she wasn't ready to be born, she seemed in near constant motion that made it nearly impossible for Ororo to get any decent rest. Kamau, now a very active two-year old, was fortunately very eager to help his mother out with anything he could.

Still, Victor recognized the signs of exhaustion. Early the morning after the storm broke, he turned Kamau over to Dorrie's patient care before loading 'Ro onto a cart he'd made after Lee and Lehnsherr's cabin had been completed. She protested, but not enough for him to consider the protest serious. Felt more like the reflexive grousing of someone whose patience was already frayed.

After a few minutes, Ororo began to enjoy being back out away from everyone else and settled down to curiously eye the passing scenery. Victor was taking her to an area she hadn't been to. Not traveling by ground, at least. It took about an hour of him pulling her at a steady pace to reach the ridge he was looking for.

The air stirred her hair deliciously as Victor helped her out of the cart. She breathed in deeply of the air that smelled only of the wilds – and the two of them. Then she laughed as she saw two of the nearby trees – with Victor in the process of stringing a net-hammock between them. Victor just grinned at her laugh then, after testing it, he helped her to climb into it. The swaying motion with the constant breeze seemed to settle Adimu down and Ororo gave a large sigh of relief.

Victor stood by her for a few moments before speaking.

"I got a few things t' do around this area – won't be outta earshot if you need anything. Just close yer eyes an' see if th' kitten will let you get some sleep."

"That sounds positively decadent. I think I will."

Rocking in the wind wasn't flying, but it was as close as she would get for about another month. She was wondering if it was perhaps Lee who had made the hammock, but fell asleep in mid-thought.

When Victor woke her for the trip back, it felt as if she had just drifted off. But a quick look at the sun verified that only an hour or so of daylight remained until dark. She stretched before he helped her back out. Looking into the cart, she saw she'd be spending the trip back accompanied by a few bundles.

"Be careful around those sacks. Got us some nice fat porcupines from down at th' bottom of this ridge."

Carefully arranging herself so she wouldn't bump the sacks, Ororo smiled.

"Namid will be pleased to see those. She's been asking about quills."

"Yep. Seem like awfully prickly things t' work with, but it'll be interestin' t' see what it is she makes with 'em."

Picking up the poles, he started back for the Pride lands.

"I've already spoke with Dorrie, 'Ro. If you want, we can head here every day when th' weather's good if you like."

Just the thought of it eased her soul, but there was a nagging concern.

"What about the hunting?"

"Jimmy can pick up whatever slack there is, but I don't guess that'll be too much. I can do some huntin' an' such around this ridge while you rest. An' when it rains too bad t' come here, well, huntin' in th' rain never bothered me none. Don't feel guilty 'bout getting' what you want now an' then, 'Ro."

That got another laugh, which pleased him as much as anything could. When she noticed his grin as he glanced at her, she gave him a wry smile back. Apparently he'd known better than she had how much she needed this. Relaxing, the thought crossed her mind that it was a sign of the many changes the last few years had brought that she could regard being pulled in a cart alongside of several recently killed porcupines as vaguely romantic.

* * *

Just a note to those following this tale - this particular story arc is one I hope to end at Chapter 50. If anyone has a thought for where they might like to see the next story arc begin, drop me a note or mention it in a review. Thanks.


	45. Chapter 45

**Part XXXXV**

By the second week of May, Ororo was looking and feeling much better – except for the ever-tightening feeling of the skin across her abdomen. '_Less than a month to go' _was getting to be her mantra to get through the day. Fortunately, the week was proving to be full of non-emergency distractions.

One distraction was being provided by Namid giving those caring to learn slightly painful lessons in the art of pulling quills from deceased porcupines. Fortunately for all concerned, Victor did the deed of skinning them himself, so they only had to deal with the hides. Not that Victor had really done that for their benefit. He had done it because he liked the taste of porcupine meat and the faster he got the quills and the meat separated, the faster the meat could be roasted for dinner.

Still, even dealing with just the hides was scratchy work. But with Victor bringing in a steady supply of porcupines, Namid was certainly not going to let the quills go to waste. She would alternate rainy days between one camp and the other, demonstrating and then helping the others as they pulled, cleaned and sorted the quills by length. Namid also gave beginning verbal instructions on how they would gather certain plant barks and berries to make dyes to color the quills with come fall. Then if everything went well, in late fall and winter, she'd begin teaching the actual process of quill embroidery. But for now, they would stick with gathering the quills to build up their supplies for the long winter months to come. When asked why wait for the fall to dye the quills, Namid simply smiled and asked them what other time of year they'd prefer to stand over pots of scalding dye? The stench of some of the dye preparation made it very desirable to do outdoors and as far away from the cooking areas as possible.

Another distraction was afforded when Shaman managed to make an appearance during one of the meetings between the two groups, bringing with him both necessities like salt and luxuries like spices – along with what seemed to be Scott and Emma's annual decline of the invitation to move away from the old Academy grounds and join them. It was Rahne who noticed a change in the usual wording.

"Look here. In the past, haven't they always said _'thanks, but there is na way we could ever consider leaving the Academy.' _? This time they've said _"thanks, but we can't consider leaving the Academy right now._'. Gives me hope that perhaps they may be starting to reconsider, but it also makes me fear for them. Something bad must be happening if it be weakening their resolve."

Shaman said nothing until he had a chance to speak with the four leaders alone. Then he took a deep breath and began.

"Things are not going well at the Academy. There are new graves, some of which seemed quite small. Most of them seem teetering on the edge of exhaustion and I had quite a few wounds that I looked over to make sure there weren't signs of infection. Unlike the growth of both of your groups, that group is shrinking. More than one factor, but mainly due to death, attrition and no new blood. No new adults coming to join the group – no live births that have survived infancy."

Shaman closed his eyes and sighed, then they knew why he had wanted to speak with them privately.

"Emma miscarried during the last raid. Emotionally, she's still sealing herself off, but it's plain to anyone that looks at her that she wants to leave. Scott isn't looking at her. And Emma confided in me that she's afraid that Scott is developing what might be termed a death wish, but due to her own emotional turmoil, she doesn't feel capable of helping him. Especially since the miscarriage maybe be what pushed him to that edge."

There was a long silence until Victor finally broke it with a question.

"Would you be able t' take a couple o' our people there an' back again?"

Victor, needless to say, had everyone's attention as Shaman nodded slowly.

"Summers needs familiar territory – he needs his old pack. Drake and McCoy were part o' that pack. If anyone can give him a shake back t' reality, it's th' two o' them."

Rahne gave her head a shake.

"Not that it is na a good idea, Victor – but Namid's with child. We kanna ask Hank to leave her alone for the birth."

"Not for that long, Rahne. That's why I was askin' Shaman 'bout there an' back. A week – mebbe two. Hate t' say it, but if they can't do it in that amount o' time, might not be anything doable."


	46. Chapter 46

_**My apologies for the long delay in the continuing of the story. A thunderstorm killed my computer (despite the fact that I had a power supply battery that was supposed to protect it from surges) - wiping out my story notes. Now that I have managed to replace my computer, I'm restarting the installments. **_

**Part XXXXVI**

It didn't take a lot to convince Hank and Bobby to go with Shaman to see about Scott. The ties between them were stretched perhaps, but part of the bonding they had together as a team would always be there. Hank did fret some about the timing – not so much about Namid who was just being to show the beginning traces of pregnancy, but more about Ororo who could easily start labor at any time. Still, as she herself pointed out to him, this wasn't her first and if they were only gone a week or two, it would still be prior to her estimated date. At any rate, Scott's situation was far more urgent and it certainly wouldn't hurt Emma to see a pair of friendly faces either.

Hank still had his reservations about the mission, but they evaporated the second they arrived. If anything, Shaman had understated the conditions at the Academy. Not a single whole building remained above ground. Graves were not only numerous, but hastily dug, And Emma – one of the ones he considered to be in many ways his intellectual soulmate? The haunted look on her face and the way she clasped him tightly as soon as he came close enough for her to register who he was? Well, it nearly broke his heart. He'd never imagined her in this state. His concern forced him to shove aside their friendship and pull out the doctor.

"Emma? When was the last time you slept? Not napped. Slept."

She had started to answer until he redefined his question. Instead, she just went silent as a gravelly voice spoke up from behind her.

"If she's slept more than fifteen minutes in a stretch in the past six months, I've not seen it. War zones suck for catching Zs."

A glance over her shoulder confirmed his suspicion that the speaker was Frank Castle. Odd, even after the years that had passed, Castle was still maintaining that white skull motif of his. Had to be something very personal to make that continue to stick after all this, so Hank didn't question the Punisher wardrobe. But he did question the conditions, though in very few words.

"How bad?"

The hardened man glanced toward Emma's back then looked back into Hank's eyes.

"No place for civilians. Not even much of a place for soldiers. I've already advised we clear the area and seal it or destroy it."

"And abandon our dead…"

Emma's voice was flat – it wasn't a question, it was a statement.

"We'll all join our dead in time, Frost. No point making things easier on the opposition by rushing the matter. If you need to avenge, do it. But not here. Not now. Your terms. Your time. Never throw yourself on top of a grenade you can kick away."

"I never pictured you as a philosopher, Mister Castle."

He gave Hank a tight smile at that.

"Everyone that manages to come out of a foxhole alive is a philosopher, McCoy. Part of the territory."

Meanwhile, Bobby was sitting near Scott trying without much success to get the man to talk in sentences containing more than two words. Ten questions so far and the answers Scott had given him consisted of 'Yes', 'Not good', 'Seventeen', 'Bad', 'No', 'Not really', 'Two days', 'Last month', 'Dead' and 'Probably not'. All said in a monotone that sounded less human than an automatic answering machine used to.

Finally, he gave up trying to make Scott talk and just started talking to Scott. Bobby didn't know if the man was actually listening or not, but he decided to at least pretend Scott was. A constant steady stream talk flowed out of different things that had happened since the last time he'd seen Scott. For some reason, he steered away from the big things and stuck with the small news. Fishing stories, weather, animals antics (mostly squirrels) and the like. Mundane, every day stuff – no drama, no conflict. Just the little quirks that always seemed to find their way into everyday life.

Oddly enough, it seemed to have an effect. Scott began to respond in small ways. A turn of his head, a small noise. When Bobby was finally sure that Scott actually was hearing him, he took a deep breath and jumped off the deep end.

"Scott? It's time to leave here."

Scott's body stiffened. There was a long pause before he spoke. His voice was soft and hoarse, but firm.

"I won't abandon the dream, Bobby."

"Nobody's asking you to, Scott. The dream isn't a building or a piece of land. It's you – it's us. The dream won't die until the dreamers do. There's a new generation being born, Scott. Logan and Creed? They're great leaders and they're going to give those kids the best shot they'll get at surviving. But neither of them are dreamers. Maybe they can't afford to dream… maybe they just never really learned how. But those kids deserve to have a vision. A chance to dream, whether they choose to follow that dream or not."

Scott's eyes were on him now – Bobby could feel them even if he couldn't see them. But Scott remained silent, so Bobby continued.

"No-one else believes as deeply in the dream as you do, Scott. Quite frankly, if you stay here, all you're doing now is trying to hold together ghosts of the past. I've seen our future – Rahne's children, Ororo's, Kitty's…. Xavier's grandchildren, in spirit. And you know better than I do what choice he would have made between the school and the children."

"The children."

Scott's voice was so low that Bobby barely heard it. Scott wasn't looking at him any longer. His gaze was on Emma. Then he stood up suddenly and walked over to Castle.

"We need to decide who is going to be going with who, but it's time we move. Anything we can't take with us or lockdown securely, we need to destroy."

"Agreed. I'll get the troops together. You planning on going north with Drake and McCoy?"

"Yes. Will you be coming?"

"Naw. I'll head west. Probably shoot for Chicago or Milwaukee. We'll connect again after we all resettle."

The two men clasped hands. It came as a bit of a surprise to Bobby as he noted that the two men seemed genuinely torn that the time had come to go their separate ways. Castle noticed the expression and gave a wry smile.

"War, Drake. Men on the same side focus on what they have in common. Sometimes you find there's more of that than you ever would have expected."

In the end, it took far less time than Shaman would have guessed for the Academy to become a part of history. It was clear that some of them (Castle, for one) had already been making preparations in case the place was overrun. Except for Emma and Scott, those left opted to go west with Castle. The lion's share of the remaining supplies would be going west along with them.

Before gathering the four he would be returning to the north with, Shaman said his goodbyes to the others, handing Castle a small carved token.

"I will keep track of your group through this. Good luck."

"Thanks, Shaman. Luck's a lady I never turn down."


	47. Chapter 47

**Part XXXXVII**

There really wasn't a great deal of fanfare at Shaman's return – mainly because no-one had expected him to return with the others so quickly. Which was just as well. Both Emma and Scott were fragile in their own ways and anything more elaborate would have been overwhelming. As it was, Ororo and Namid took immediate charge of Emma while Hank and Bobby herded Scott off to Logan's area. While Logan and Scott weren't exactly best friends, Hank figured it was best to have Scott with the feral brother he was most familiar with for now.

Emma found herself under the gaze of two sets of cats eyes – Creed and Kamau's. Knowing that there were children here was different from the reality of actually seeing children. Sinking to her knees, she wept.

Kamau came out of the brush first. Ororo and Namid both started to move, but a motion from Creed caught their eyes and the slow shake of his head stopped them in their tracks. Emma's scent was confusing Kamau slightly as she was experiencing an emotion he'd never come across before. Creed recognized it though. Emma's crying wasn't a sign of despair – it was, oddly to his thinking, crying from a combination of joy and relief.

Kamau crept up fearlessly to the woman, not sensing any threat himself and knowing that his parents would have sounded a warning if there was any danger. He slowly reached up and touched the puzzling tears on the woman's face. At his feather light touch, she opened her eyes and blue eyes met bluer eyes. The tears continued to flow, but a smile formed on her face and she spoke softly.

"He's so beautiful, Ororo."

Her defenses were down, so they felt in their minds rather than heard with their ears the unspoken addition of _'so alive'. _Those two words told them more than any volume could have of the desolate region the Academy area had become.

Ororo felt someone behind her and turned to see Hank had arrived. He looked more relieved than worried himself as he gazed over to the scene before them.

"Being around non-stop death is a version of Hell for a telepath. That's what she needs more than anything – to be immersed with life for awhile."

Then the rather rounded conditions of both Namid and Ororo made him smack himself in the head and mutter under his breath.

"My stars and garters…. I am an idiot."

"No, Hank."

Emma's voice was still soft, but carried surprisingly well in the quiet.

"The fact that other women are fecund isn't a cause for distress. I have lost a daughter, but I have not lost hope for another."

Though speaking to Hank, Emma's eyes had yet to move from Kamau.

"If none of you mind, I'd be quite happy to watch over this young man while you are all busy."

A very puzzled look crossed Creed's face, then his eyes snapped over to Ororo whose eyes had closed as her hands pressed against her swollen belly. He headed for her side with Hank and Namid just a beat behind him as he lifted her up.

"Lead th' way unless you wanna do th' delivery here, McCoy."

Hank didn't bother with banter, he simply did as instructed and took the lead, heading for their makeshift clinic, calling for Namid to come as quickly as she could follow.

Kamau found himself left all alone with the new blonde woman, which puzzled him but wasn't a reason for concern for him. He wasn't sure what all the hurry had been about though.

"A little awkward now, but I suppose we can introduce ourselves. My name is Emma. Do you know about your mother and why she's gotten so large lately?"

"Kamau."

He didn't say anything more, just furrowed his face a bit and nodded as he looked in the direction his parents had disappeared in.

Emma's gaze followed his own, then she offered him a hand.

"Let's take a walk to where they went. You can show me things along the way and by the time we catch up with them, perhaps you'll be able to meet your little sister."

His gaze shifted back to Emma, then he gave a sudden fanged grin a understanding dawned. As Kamau took hold of her hand, he broke into a fairly steady stream of chatter. Most of his speech wouldn't have made a bit of sense to her if she wasn't able to glean from his surface thoughts the intent behind his words. As it was, she had a pretty decent overview of the Pride by the time they reached the clinic area. Or at least an overview from the vantage point of a young and observant child.

The sudden darkening mae her look up. Clouds had moved into the area while they'd been walking.

"Hmm... looks like rain."

The giggle of the child at her side made her rethink that and Emma found herself joining in with his laughter.


	48. Chapter 48

**Part XXXXVIII**

Like Kamua before her, Adimu was born to the accompaniment of a clash of thunder. When he noted the sudden weather shift, Logan left Scott with Bobby and headed for the clinic. If no-one was there, he'd head for the Pride lands next.

The sight of Emma and Kamau having what appeared to be a very serious conversation brought him up short. Well, if Frosty was watching the cub, the others must be inside. And as if to confirm her uncle's thoughts, the lusty cry of a newborn sounded in unison with another peal of thunder.

Kamau clapped his hands at the thunder, then spotted Logan and ran over to greet him. Logan swung the boy up in one easy motion, depositing Kamau onto his broad shoulders before moving over to Emma.

"Emma. Good t' see you again."

"You as well. Maddening as your unaging visage may be at times, I find it can also have a shade of comfort to it."

She gave a glance toward the building then looked back to Logan and Kamau.

"I think I'll explore a bit. This is more of an occassion for family."

"No need t' feel like you gotta go anywhere, Emma. Yer part o' th' group now. Not quite sure which part o' th' group, but that's just a detail."

"Indeed, our comrade speaks truly."

Hank was sporting a wide grin as he exited with Namid at his side.

"Just giving the new parents a few moments alone with their latest edition. Logan, the request was made to wait about five minutes and then - let me try and get the quote correct - '_tell him t' bring his butt in here an' bring Kamau with him'_. I likely have some of the inflections wrong, but the wording is verbatim."

Logan just snorted.

"Yeh, that sounds like Vic alright. What d'ya say, Kamau? Wanna take a run 'fore we go meet yer sis?"

Meanwhile, back inside the clinic, Ororo was propped up by pillows and watched with a tired, but satisfied gaze as Victor inspected his tiny daughter.

"Does she meet your standards?"

Victor just gave a soft snort.

"She don't look a thing like me - which means I'm gonna have t' keep my claws nice an' sharp when she gets t' be a teenager. I was a bit concerned - she's come a bit early, so she's teenie. Almost wispy lookin'. But she's sound."

With that assessment, he offered the infant back over to Ororo, who was making the adjustments for letting the child nurse. She took a moment to give her baby a long look before settling Adimu in position.

"She does look like she has a touch of the fey, doesn't she?'

"What? Ya mean like a fairy or somethin'?"

Frowning a bit, he got closer again. From his expression, she knew he was trying to see the child wth 'normal' sight. After a minute or two, he grunted and settled back again.

"Yeah, I guess I can see that. Somethin' 'bout her does bring that Excalibur gal t' mind."

"You mean Meggan? Yes... I suppose I can see that as well."

One of Ororo's fingernails lifted up a few of the pale blonde strands.

"Victor? What does she smell like?"

At that question, he changed position, moving himself to crouch near Ororo's head.

"Fresh. Ever been around a patch o' wild mint after it's been pelted by a hard rain? She don't really smell like that, but her scent puts me in mind o' that, if ya know what I mean."

"That sounds lovely. Do you..."

A noise from outside interrupted whatever she'd been about to ask.

"Been a little over th' five minutes - you guys ready fer us?"

Amusement played over Ororo's features as she settled back against her pillows.

"I suppose we are as ready for you as anyone could possible be for the two of you. Come on in."

Kamau was still a little flushed and tossled from their run, but on his own feet as he made a beeline for the bed and gave his intense concentration to the tiny girl making the soft suckling noises.

Logan moved over at a slower pace, taking in the new scent as he came.

"Delicate lookin' as an orchid, 'Ro. Nice work, considerin' th' sorta raw material you hadda work with."

As expected, that gained him a good-natured swat from his big brother.

"Victor? While Logan and Kamau are getting acquainted with Adimu, why don't you go have a chat with Hank? I'd like for us to go home if we can."

She didn't voice her reasons, but he knew it was to do with the size of the clinic. Smaller meant easier to keep clean, but smaller also touched her claustrophobia. Especially with the lack of real windows.

"Be right back, babe. This shouldn't take long."

And it didn't. While Hank would have preferred her to stay put longer, he was as aware of her aversion to small spaces as anyone. And it wasn't as if he wouldn't be welcome to drop in and check on them as often as he felt necessary. But he did lay out his conditions.

"I will agree to this with the following stipulations. Namid takes care of walking Kamau home and gets the bed ready for our new mother. Logan and I will transport Ororo herself and you will carry your daughter. I will come back to check on her before I retire for the evening and if all looks well, I will check back in twice a day for the first couple of days."

"Works fer me. Long as it means she can be in her own walls, doubt 'Ro will kick up a fuss either. Let's get to it."


	49. Chapter 49

_Thanks to all who have reviewed or sent messages for the kind encouragement. This particular story arc will be ending with the next chapter, but the stories of this particular world will continue. _

**Part XXXXIX**

Creed was busy with his newborn daughter, so he didn't notice that Emma was no longer outside when they emerged to move Ororo back to their den. Hank noticed and so did Logan, but they both kept quiet. They'd have Ororo settled fairly quickly and Emma was not exactly a novice likely to fall down into a well or something like that.

In truth, Erik had come across Emma. While the two were hardly close, they weren't mortal enemies. At least not recent ones. So she had no qualms about accepting his invitation for a walking tour. Though it certainly didn't escape her attention that Erik's helmet was firmly on his head. Especially since she didn't know of any that were gifted with more than rudimentary telepathy in either the Pack or Pride.

"Is the helmet for my 'benefit', Erik? You really needn't bother. I have learned the joys of physical expression in these past years. So, if you annoy me, you would be far better off with a protective cup instead of a protective hat."

He gave her a sideways look - well, as much of one as he was able to do with his headgear.

"A trifle more crude than I would have expected from you, Emma."

She pursed her lips slightly as her attention was drawn toward the sight of Dorrie and Reed playing with their energetic sons.

"The world is a cruder place. Those not adjusting to that fact are likely doomed to extinction. Speaking of cruder, how fares your ex-group? Have they accepted your change of venue?"

She could feel the grimace even though she wasn't looking at him.

"I am not entirely sure, but there is a better than average chance that they have not. The helmet is more for their 'benefit' than yours."

Emma processed without comment the contained warning that his former group was both possibly hostile and had at least one of the few active telepathic talents in it. For her own part, she had suppressed most of her own abilities for the sake of what remained of her sanity this past year. Obviously to continue that here would be a mistake. Holding her breath slightly, she unlocked the door in her mind and allowed herself to take in the area mentally as well as physically.

Erik sensed rather than heard something going on, so he turned his head just in time to see Emma stagger. Without hesitation, he reached to steady her even as his eyes searched the immediate area for any signs of an attack. He relaxed a bit when he saw Cherry looking down on them curiously. She had obviously noticed the activity below, but hadn't seen or scented cause for alarm.

Emma took a deep breath, then her eyes followed Erik's into the tree as she regained her bearings. Erik was conferring with…. a squirrel? Perhaps she was still more light-headed than she'd thought. Erik glanced back toward her, saw and correctly interpreted the meaning of her stare. To her surprise, he looked a bit sheepish.

"No, you aren't imagining things. The squirrel above us is Cherry…. one of Mrs. Richards' squirrels who has attached herself to me. You will likely find yourself claimed by one in the near future."

The entire thought process involved in processing Erik being stalked by a squirrel brought a faint smile to Emma's face. Yes indeed – life here was going to be … different. Not that Erik let her dwell on that long.

"Never mind Cherry for now - are you alright?"

"I think so, but is there a rather heated rivalry going on that you know of?"

The unexpected question puzzled him for a moment, but he shook his head.

"Not saying that everyone is everyone else's best friend, but no blood feuds that I am aware of. Why?"

A sudden rumble of thunder shifted his gaze upwards and he frowned. Emma's own gaze shifted to a direction that meant nothing to her. She didn't know the area layout well enough to know that Creed's den was in that direct line.

"It's just... I felt a brief flash of extreme hatred. Loathing. Just a spike. I can't find a trace of it now."

Erik looked back down from the suddenly darkened sky and saw the direction Emma was staring. With no preamble, he simply grabbed her hand and began to run. In the trees above, Cherry began to give out the danger signal call as she lept from branch to branch to keep up with them.

Not long before that, back at their den, Victor and Ororo were finally alone with their family. Kamau was particularly fascinated with watching his new baby sister suckling. Ororo reached over a hand to ruffle their son's hair, but felt distinctly uneasy. A glance over toward Victor told her that she wasn't the only one feeling that way. Victor's hair was flared like a mane - something had him on alert.

"What is it?"

Victor glanced over to her, then back toward their door. A low growl underscored his voice as he answered her.

"Dunno, babe. Senses are sayin' there's nothin' out there, but my gut an' th' hairs on th' back o' my neck say otherwise."

"As do mine."

Kamau's eyes were large, but he remained quiet as he picked up on his parents' mood. Glancing at Victor's back, Ororo broke Adimu's suction gently, then laid a hand on their son's shoulder. A rumble of thunder answered her mood.

Ninety seconds later, a shudder ran through the frame of their den.

Ninety seconds more and the walls blew apart.

Less than five minutes after the rumble of thunder alerted the Pack and Pride that there might be a problem, Logan and Beast were the first to arrive on the scene. There was little to be seen in the downpour but shattered wood. And while it was hard to see against the wet shards, they could still smell the blood that was being washed away by the rain.


	50. Chapter 50

**Part XXXXX**

By the time Erik and Emma arrived on the scene, the rain had stopped. In any other circumstance, that might have sounded like good news, but where Storm was concerned? It seemed ominious. Both Hank and Logan were searching the outskirts of the area searching for the newest scents.

Erik started to move toward Hank, but found himself drawn up short by Emma. Her eyes were firmly fixed on the rubble.

"The boy and the infant are both here. Come."

Trusting in Emma's senses, Erik went with her and helped her move some of the rubble. Soon they were able to spot the signs of a doorway leading into the hillside. Redoubling their efforts, they soon had it clear and Erik forced the door open.

Emma stayed back as Erik glanced inside. The interior was pitch black, but he thought he saw a glimmer from the back. He moved inside to search - a moment later, Emma called out a warning, but she was just a little too late.

The warning yell drew both Hank and Logan back to the ruins just in time to see Erik reemerge from the hillside with his right hand and arm dripping blood. Relieved to see Logan, Emma went over to him.

"You'd better be the one to go in there. The child will know your scent as family."

Erik was muttering a few things best left untranslated as Hank moved over to check over his wounds. The boy's needle sharp teeth had bitten down to the bone and his claws had made several deep scratches as well, though they had fortunately missed severing a major artery.

"Why did the boy attack me? He's been around me before."

As Logan headed inside to check on his nephew and niece, Emma was the one to supply the answer.

"He's been around you, but he's still too young to tell who you are by scent. His nose is highly sensitive, but he hasn't got the experience yet to connect the scent to the source, so to speak. Just like if when you were young, you had been taken to a stand full of different fruits. You might have known they were all fruit, but that didn't mean you knew what the differences between them were. The only scents Kamau can really pick out at his level of experience are his blood relatives and the ones with really unique scents, like Doreen with her fur."

Logan came out with the boy and infant in hand - Kamau still had some of Erik's blood on him. Kamau grumbled a bit when Logan gave him a light poke, but he looked up at Erik and said, "Sowwy."

Erik noted the child didn't look particularly sorry, but then he ended up laughing.

"Nothing to be sorry for. You were defending your sister. If I'd had your abilities at your age, I'd have done the same." _Or worse….Oh yes, I've done worse when my family was threatened._

Logan studied Erik for a few moments after that comment, then just nodded and turned to Emma.

"Any chance you can get a feel fer where Ro an' Vic are?"

A frown formed as Emma's eyes scanned the area even as she swept it with her mind.

"Victor is as difficult to locate mentally as you are and Ororo has an admirable set of defenses as well. Which would appear to be up if she's in the area. Then again, considering how fast she can fly, she may simply be beyond the range that I am currently searching."

Emma tactfully didn't mention the other reason Ororo's mind might not be active – that possibility was already well-known, but not for consideration. Yet. A brief debate, then she reached out mentally to Hank.

_"Hank, I'm not going to say this out loud in front of the children and you're the only non-shielded present. I felt an emotion spike near here that ended nearly as quickly as it began. That will generally indicate one of three things: shielding going into place, unconsciousness or death. I also recently felt... I'm not sure how to describe it. A void is the closest I can come - like something ceased to exist that I wasn't even aware was there until it was gone."_

Hank tapped his claw on his chin thoughtfully as Emma gave him her best guess at the direction that latest sensation had come from. Then he turned to Logan.

"Give a call to whoever might be closest so that they can take the youngsters back to one of the settlements. We have a rather formidable group present here for checking out the area, but it would be wiser not to be babysitting during the search."

Logan's immediate reaction was to open his mouth to say something, but whatever he had intended to say caught in his throat as Adimu gave a small squirm in his arms. Instead, he shifted stance and gave out a call to Rahne. The call was seemingly answered before Logan even finished it, but the one making the rapid appearance through the trees wasn't Rahne. It was Doreen, who immediately reached for Adimu. Kamau was already moving toward her. Staying with Doreen was what he usually did when his parents were gone and her side was a comforting presence.

"Cherry's already filled me in on the basics – go. Kamau will help me with his sister."

Whatever Logan said to Doreen went unheard by the others present, but Doreen gave him a concerned smile as she took Adimu from his arms. As soon as the transfer took place, Hank headed off in the direction indicated by Emma with Logan hot on his heels. Erik made a rude noise, but no other comment as he and Emma followed in the pair's wake. Doreen watched until they were gone from sight, then headed back to Reed. They needed to get space ready for Creed's family until their home could be rebuilt.

Hank and Logan had been out of sight ahead of them for around ten minutes when Emma stopped Erik with a slightly upraised hand, then altered their course slightly. Erik gave her a curious glance, but opted to follow her lead without question. Less than two minutes later, he saw the tell-tale white hair up ahead – Storm's back was to them and she was kneeling intently over something. That changed when his foot landed heavily on a dead branch and snapped it.

Storm was on her feet in practically a second. She whirled around, bloodied knife clenched in one hand. Clothing, face – indeed, most of her front – was as bloody as the blade. There was a snarl on her face and her eyes were flashing until a near skeletal hand rose up from the ground and took hold of a piece of the scraps that had once been one of her favorite kaftans. Erik took an involuntary step back – the blood, the stance, the cattish eyes? He suddenly saw in her what Creed had always seen – the lioness beneath.

That side of Storm was no revelation to Emma so she only studied Storm long enough to determine that the vast majority of the blood was not her own. Then her eyes followed the hand down to the rest of the body on the ground. Creed, little doubt. She couldn't think of anyone else unaccounted for that Storm would have been guarding. Leaving Erik behind, she moved over to get a better idea of how she might assist. By that time, Ororo had relaxed back down and resheathed her knife.

To say that Creed looked bad was a gross understatement. His eyes still met hers with something akin to humor in them though and he managed to speak even though his throat was obviously still undergoing major healing. The words were low and hoarse, but understandable.

"Ain't s' bad, Frosty. Trust me – th' other guys look worse. Hope none o' 'em were any that Bucket-brain was too fond of, 'cause I don't think we left much o' 'em behind t' remember 'em by."

Smirking a bit, Storm turned her attention back to her husband, settling back down at his side. Her fingers moved to press together some of the torn areas to give his healing factor a hand. After figuring out her goal, Emma joined in as Erik moved up behind them just in time for Logan and Hank to burst onto the scene. The look of temporary confusion on their faces made it a bit easier for Erik to regain his own composure.

Hank didn't waste long puzzling how they were beaten to the spot, but joined in with checking over the various wounds. Logan stayed on alert, constantly checking the breeze.

"Any left that you know of, 'Ro?"

"The five we encountered are all accounted for, Logan. And won't be bothering anyone again in this lifetime. If there are others who might have held back? No idea. I suppose we should have left one for questioning, but that thought occurred a bit late to be of any practical use."

A growl sounded. At least that's what it sounded like to Erik, but it was obviously more than that as Logan paused his vigil long enough to answer his brother.

"Cubs looked good. They're with Dorrie. Kamau took good care o' th' baby. Even took a bite outta ol' Erik there when he reached a hand in t' check on 'em."

Ororo glanced back over her shoulder at the now-flushed Erik as a hoarse laugh came up from beside her. The gravelly voice followed - still with an uncomfortable amount of amusement in the tone for Erik's liking.

"That's m'cub. You can all stop yer fussin'... ain't nothin' now that a good meal an' sleep won't fix."

Logan moved over and offered Creed a hand up. Emma moved out of the way and, after giving a look of exasperation, Ororo did the same. As Creed sat up, Erik looked over the massive amount of slowly mending wounds.

"Who were the attackers?"

Storm's mouth openly slightly, but a light growl from Creed stopped her from saying anything, though she gave him a quizzical look. He answered her and Erik at the same time.

"You've made th' remark on more than one occassion that you really need t' stop askin' questions you don't really wanna know th' answer to. So think fer a couple o' minutes. However you may or may not o' felt about 'em in th' past? They're dead now. Scavengers are already workin' on what little we left behind. You still curious? Ask us tomorrow. We got baths t' take an' a home t' rebuild."

Creed got to his feet with less than his normal grace, but his stance was steady as he nuzzled against Ororo. Hank and Logan smelled the chance in the air. Taking the hint, they herded the others back toward camp as a warm rain began to fall behind them.

Ororo's mouth found Creed's as the rain began to run down their bodies like red jewels. What scraps of clothing remained were tossed to the side. On the perimeter, a few preditors and a few more scavengers took in the scene. They may have been drawn by the scent of the blood, but even the least intelligent of them knew that, wounded or not, this pair was not safe to tamper with. The preditors moved on, but some of the scavengers remained. Just in case.

Not that either of them paid the least attention to their audience. Their den might have been destroyed, but they had successfully defended their cubs and each other as well as taking out a full measure of vengence against their attackers. It proved to be a potent aphrodisiac - though as Logan had often pointed out, the two of them hardly needed help in that particular department.

Later, as they rested on the ground not far from where they'd begun, Ororo twined her fingers in his damp hair.

"Remember the first time you came to me at the lake?"

"Yeh. Not th' sorta thing I'd be likely t' forget. What of it?"

"I was wrong. I suppose it took me this long because it's hard to recognize something you haven't known before except in a parent-child sort of way. But I love you."

His reaction was a bit bemused as he drew her closer again.

"Damn. How'd that happen?"

That made her laugh even if it did also cause her to take a nip at his nose.

"Hell if I know. What I do know is that I don't need a ceremony to seal our bond unless one would have meaning to you."

"I already have everything that has meanin' t' me. But now that you've said it, I lay claim t' you like I do our cubs. An' Hell better make room for any sorry bastard that tries t' take you from me."

_**This is the last chapter of Courtship. I hope you've enjoyed the story. The next story arc will hopefully be off the ground in the near future. The current working title for it is : LATEOTW : Growing Pains. **_


End file.
